It's Our Life
by Akihime93
Summary: A-Z with Naoki and Kotoko! A story which will contain 26 chapters, every letter one. Each chapter will show another part of Kotoko and Naoki's married life.
1. A: Anniversary

**Hellow ItaKiss-lovers! ^_^ I watched the Korean Drama Playful Kiss and I just loved it :D It's my absolute favorite series to write about :) Someone asked me if I could write some nice ongoing story about it, and I thought I could do something like that ^_^ Well, this one won't be ongoing forever, but it'll surely contain 26 chapters. Yess we're going A-Z with Kotoko and Naoki :) **

**This story will be a series of oneshots, but they do go in chronological order, so not randomly. There might pop up some darker chapters here and there (chapter 2 isn't very happy), and there might also come a M-rated chapter but then I'll warn you before hand ^^ But the whole story may be kind of slice-of-life like, we just follow Naoki and Kotoko around in their marriage ;)**

**I'm now uploading the first three chapters, and I'm starting on the fourth one asap! :) I hope you will enjoy it ! _ Reviews support me all the way! :D 3**

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**A – Anniversary **

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"Irie-kun! Good morning!" Naoki grumbled and turned away. It was Sunday, early in the morning, and his wife was already standing beside is bed side, trying to awake him. "Mohh, Irie-kun get up already!" She started pushing and poking him, trying to get him out of his bed. But he just kept his eyes closed and ignored her. "Why so cheerful already… it's too early" He mumbled. "Don't you know? Today's the day of our anniversary! We've been married for eight whole years now, and I want to celebrate it" Kotoko said. Naoki sighed and turned to look at her. He still wasn't totally used to her pregnant form. She seemed to be in final state and they were told that she would soon give birth to their child.

"Celebrate it" He repeated, and Kotoko nodded. Before he could give a proper answer, the door slammed open, and a screaming Mrs. Irie wrapped her arms around Kotoko. "Congratulations Kotoko-chan! Onii-chan!" "Oba-sama! Thank you!" Naoki grumbled and turned away again. So early in the morning, and so loud they were!

When they finally made him get up, he showered and changed (Kotoko had already done that) and then went downstairs to have breakfast with them. "So what do you want to do" He asked after sipping some coffee. "Well.." Naoki waited and hoped she didn't create some tiring schedule. "I just want to be alone with you for the day" Kotoko said with a shy smile. "Hmm we could go to a museum, or.. maybe the movies, or…" The doorbell rang, and Kotoko stopped talking. "Oh, I'll open it" She said, but Mrs. Irie motioned that she had to continue, and that she'd do it. "Okay thank you. Or we can just take a walk" Naoki listened while reading the newspaper, and thought about what she was saying.

Their previous anniversaries they mostly went out together too. They'd go on a trip, or visit a museum, but he doubted Kotoko would be able to do much with that pregnancy. "CONGRATULATIONS!" Kotoko and Naoki jumped in surprise. Kinnosuke and Chris came barging in, and before they knew it they had their arms around them and hugged them. "Chris! Kin-chan!" Kotoko squealed cheerfully. In their married life, Naoki had already gotten used to being hugged by Kotoko's friends. "You told them?" Naoki asked, and Kotoko nodded with a huge grin. "We thought, we could come and celebrate with you" Kinnosuke said as he handed Naoki a bottle of wine. "Woah I didn't expect you at all!" Kotoko said happily and she hugged Chris again. "Yes, thank you, Kinnosuke, Christine" Naoki thanked them and beckoned they could sit down. While Naoki went to the kitchen to get some drinks for them, the doorbell rang again. "I'll go this time" Kotoko said, and she walked to the door. She opened the door and squealed in surprise as she was covered with confetti. "CONGRATULATIONS!" "Satomi! Jinko!" Kotoko couldn't believe her eyes. Her two friends were standing at her door, holding a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine. "Long time no see!" Kotoko hugged them and studied them.

"You both look so good! How did you know?"

"Kinnosuke told us. Haha, back in high school we would have never expected this day would come! Eight years!"

They walked in and pulled off their coats. "Irie! Congrats!" They yelled at Naoki when they entered the living room. Naoki was surprised, but greeted them anyway. 'It's only eight years, nothing special about that' He thought, but he couldn't help but smile when he saw Kotoko's cheerful face. Mr. and Mrs. Irie got them some drinks and snacks, before saying they had to leave somewhere. "Yuuki is upstairs, but he'll meet his girlfriend in the park at two o'clock" Mrs. Irie said. Kotoko could hear vaguely a voice coming from upstairs, yelling "_she's not my girlfriend!_", and she laughed. "Okay then, have a nice day!" She and Naoki went outside with them and waved goodbye. "Well then, you have guests" Naoki said when they entered the house again.

Before Kotoko could say anything back, the doorbell rang again, and Naoki walked back to the door. "Geez, did they forget something" He sighed, but he was surprised to see Sudou and Matsumoto Yuuko standing at their door. "Well hello! What brings you here?" He said with raised eyebrows, and they shook hands. "Your anniversary of course! We had nothing to do so we thought we'd stop by" Matsumoto explained, and she entered the house to greet Kotoko. "Hey! Nice to see you again!" Kotoko squealed and she greeted them. Naoki sighed as he closed the door behind them. He couldn't believe anyone was getting all worked up because of an eight-year anniversary. Not that he didn't like to see all of them, he just thought it was funny. "So Naoki, tell me how you manage to be married to her for so long" Matsumoto Yuuko asked, receiving a glare from Kotoko. While chatting, the four of them entered the living room, which was filled with the chatting voices of the others. "Hey! More! Makes it even more fun!" Satomi said cheerfully. "What?" Kotoko asked, while Naoki got Matsumoto Yuuko and Sudou some drinks. "This! Let's play" Satomi said, holding the game 'Pictionary' up. "Sure!"

They all chatted and played the game till it was already three o'clock. Yuuki had already left, and Kotoko's father had called once from work. He had to work till the evening. Naoki and Kotoko had a lot of fun, it had been a while since they saw their friends. The doorbell rang and Kotoko got up. She opened the door and her jaw dropped. Marina, Tomoko, Motoki and Keita were standing there. "Congratulations!" They said cheerfully, and Kotoko happily threw her arms around them. "You guys don't have to work today?" She asked. "Nope!" They said. "And I'm just back from work" Keita said. Just when Kotoko wanted to close the door, a hand stopped it from closing and she opened it again. "Wait for me!" Kotoko's eyes widened in surprise. "Nishigaki-sensei!" She squeaked his name. "Yeah, Naoki mentioned it at work, so he just asked for it" Nishigaki said, and he shook her hand. "Congratulations to both of you, may you be married for many, many more years. Or, maybe it's been enough already, and you could leave him for me" Nishigaki flirted, hovering over her and making her back away. "N-no thank you" Kotoko said with a blush. "What the..!" Naoki entered the hall, seeing Nishigaki hovering over his wife. He closed the door again so the noises coming from the living room softened, and approached them.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. 'And stop flirting with my wife' he thought, but he still smiled at his colleague. "I thought it was a hint when you mentioned it at work" Nishigaki said, pulling off his coat. Kotoko actually couldn't believe that Naoki had mentioned their anniversary at his work. Her husband was still full of surprises. "I thought you had to lead an important operation today" Naoki said (with some tone in his voice like 'you're not welcome'). They entered the living room. "I did, but that was earlier, now I'm done" Nishigaki said as he sat down next to Keita. "I see" Naoki said, and he walked to the kitchen to get him a drink. He still couldn't believe everyone was inviting themselves at their home. He thought Kotoko wanted to be alone with him. He looked at her, and saw her laughing with her friends. Ah well, as long as she had fun.

They had all fun together until the end of the day, and eventually everyone suggested to have dinner together. So they all left to Kotoko's father's restaurant, who was very surprised when he saw everyone enter. Nishigaki had to leave to work though. But they were still with many. "So Kotoko, tell us some interesting things about Naoki" Satomi said, who had gotten a little tipsy from all the wine. 'The effect that alcohol has on him*' Kotoko thought to herself with her mouthful. "Yeah, how is he in bed?" Marina asked, and Kotoko choked on her food. "Heh come on guys" She laughed and she blushed. "Come on, tell us!" While Kotoko had fun with the girls, Naoki sat a few chairs further from her, chatting with the men and Matsumoto Yuuko. He sometimes gazed at his wife. He just loved it when she smiled, and today she smiled all the time. They should invite their friends over some more, if this was the effect it had on her.

Naoki's parents had arrived in the meanwhile, and it slowly got late. At 10 o'clock Yuuki came in, and was surprised by Kotoko hugging him. She hadn't had any alcohol (because she was pregnant) but the day made her so happy that she was all hyper. "And how was your date?" She asked him. "Mind your own business!" Yuuki said, but everyone noticed he was blushing. "How cute!" They talked and drank till it finally was time for them to leave.

"Pheww!" Kotoko let herself fall on their bed and spread her arms. "Today was fun wasn't it!" She said cheerfully. "Yeah" Naoki said, pulling off his blouse. "I thought you said you wanted to be alone together?" Naoki asked. "Huh?" Kotoko turned, still laying on the bed with her hand supporting her head. "You know I didn't get any attention from you at all today" Naoki said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He was right, Kotoko had only been busy with their friends, and she and Naoki had barely exchanged words. "Oh…" Kotoko blushed and looked away. "Hehe sorry, I just.." She couldn't finish her sentence, since Naoki sat down on the bed, bent down and kissed her. "Just kidding" He said, before kissing her some more. It was disappointing they couldn't really do anything, with Kotoko being pregnant like that, but he still felt delighted with the feeling of her lips on his.

"And, what did you tell them?" Naoki asked. "Hmm?" Kotoko had her eyes still closed and enjoyed how Naoki caressed her neck. "They asked you how I'm in bed" Naoki said, and Kotoko's eyes shot open. "W-what? You heard…" Naoki smirked and kissed her again. "Just kidding" He said again. "You don't need to say anything" He whispered in her ear, and he kissed her neck.

Kotoko giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying this passionate side of him.

**End of this chapter**


	2. B: Blame

**Chapter two! Like I already said, this one's a little more dark/dramatic, whatever you call it :) **

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**B – Blame**

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"_Twinkle, twinkle, little star,  
How I wonder what you are,  
Up above the world so high,  
Like a diamond in the sky…"_

Naoki listened how his wife sang a lullaby for their daughter. Only a week ago she had given birth to their child, Kotomi. He closed his eyes and listened to Kotoko's soft voice singing the lullaby, while he pretended to read the newspaper. He loved how she sang a lullaby every night. It was the only thing she was good at actually. Even when it was supposed to be the other way round, he was the one who was best at changing diapers, preparing baby meals and bathing the baby.

"She's asleep" Kotoko whispered, and she sat down on Naoki's lap. "H-hey.." He put away the newspaper and sighed, but he didn't push her off. "I sure hope Kotomi doesn't inherit your brains" Naoki said with a smirk, and Kotoko gave him an annoyed look. "Where did that come from" She growled, but Naoki hushed her and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "Just teasing you" He said, and Kotoko's eyes softened. Then she grinned evilly. "And I hope she doesn't inherit your personality" Kotoko said, and she stuck her tongue out at him. Naoki squeezed her sides, making her jump and squeal, so she quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Shhh! Kotomi is sleeping!" Naoki hissed at her with a mischievous grin. "Irie-kun you meanie" Kotoko gave him a quick, playful kiss on his lips, and then got off his lap and walked away. "Good night" She said, and she went upstairs.

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Today would be the first day for Kotoko to stay home with the baby all alone. No matter when, the previous week there was always someone at home with her, Mrs. Irie, or her father. Kotoko had two weeks free from work to care for the baby, while Naoki still had to go work. Not as many hours as normal, but he still had to go. And when he returned from work there was always chaos going on at home. Like Kotoko struggling with the baby to change diapers, or a mess in the kitchen because she failed at preparing baby meals. Life would never be quiet with Kotoko around. But then, Kotoko had always someone around to help her. But today everyone was off somewhere. Naoki felt actually kind of worried, now he had to leave her all alone with the baby. He worried both for his wife and the baby.

"Have a nice day" Kotoko said, and Naoki wanted to give her a goodbye kiss which she always wanted, but Kotoko didn't even notice because she was busy with the baby. "You.. you too" Naoki said, and he left.

"So, Kotomi, now it's you and mommy alone! Just the two of us" Kotoko carried Kotomi in her arms and sat down on the couch. "Look how small you are, I bet you'll look as pretty as Naoki when you're grown" Kotoko said softly. "And I hope you won't be as stupid as me" She said, and she giggled. Kotomi made some sounds and smiled. "Aww you smiled at me!" Kotoko squealed, hugging the baby.

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"Hey Naoki, how's the baby doing?" Naoki was at the office with a few colleagues. "Yeah she's fine" Naoki replied. He felt bothered with the uneasy feeling he had when he said that. Of course he trusted his wife. But anything could go wrong. Why must she be such an idiot? He could never leave her alone like this, if he only continued worrying about her. The head nurse's voice pulled him away from his thoughts and worries. "Naoki-sensei, it's time for your next operation" Naoki nodded. "Yes" He said as he followed her.

The hours seemed to be passing by very slowly, and it was finally lunchtime. Naoki tried to call Kotoko but she didn't answer the phone. "Oh Irie, you're calling Kotoko?" Marina asked who passed by. "Yeah, but she's not answering the phone" He said. "Ohh, you could try her cell phone? Or maybe she's taking a walk or something" Marina walked on and Naoki thought she might be right. He tried her cell phone but didn't Kotoko didn't answer that one either. He sighed, how troublesome.

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In the meanwhile, Kotoko was bathing Kotomi, not hearing the phones ring. "So, there you go" She said, lifting Kotomi out of the bath, and drying her with a towel. After that she placed Kotomi in her little bed. Suddenly she heard noises coming from downstairs and she turned around. "Hmm? Oba-sama?" She looked down the stairs. She froze when she heard the loud breathing of someone she apparently didn't know. 'A burglar?' She thought, and she quickly ran back to Kotomi's room. She closed the door and grabbed her cell phone, immediately noticing one missed call from Naoki. She called him, trying to stay calm.

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Naoki felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket, and took it out. "Kotoko.. I knew she was alright" He mumbled, and he answered the phone. He was glad she was alright, but still, he had his lunch break an hour ago, and Kotoko was disturbing him at the moment. "Kotoko! Don't you know I'm working?" "Irie-kun!" Naoki froze. Kotoko sounded panicked. "What's wrong?" He asked. "I-it's a burglar! He-he's inside the house!" Naoki could hear her breathe heavily, and his heart started to pound. "What? Are you sure? Then make sure you get away!" Naoki shouted, and colleagues and patients looked up at him with surprised looks.

"I-I can't!" Kotoko sobbed in panic. "He's downstairs! And Kotomi! I can't just climb out of the window with her! I- Aaah!" Naoki gasped when he heard her scream, and disturbing sounds of the phone falling down, followed by the familiar baby cries of Kotomi. "KOTOKO!" He yelled, he put his phone in his pocket and ran off.

"I hope that wasn't the police you were calling?" A low voice whispered in Kotoko's ear. A hand had roughly grabbed her by her hair, and had slammed her against the wall. A heavy body pinned her against the wall, and Kotoko could feel the coldness of the knife that was held against her throat. Kotoko sobbed, shaking with fear and trying not to listen to the cries of Kotomi. "Please…" She cried. "Money…" The man hissed. "T-the wallet on the table, that's everything I have now, really" Kotoko said with a shivering voice. They never had much cash in house. And Naoki had always a wallet with him too, in which their credit cards were (Naoki didn't trust her to keep a credit card with her). "I already found the wallet, there must be more!" He growled. "Y-you can take my phone, anything – just .. j-just leave us alone!" Kotoko brought out.

When she heard no answer she again opened her mouth. "Y-you're scaring the baby.." Kotoko whispered, while tears streamed down her face. She screamed in shock as the man grabbed her by her hair again and threw her on the floor. He bent down, grabbed her hair again and pulled her up to him. "Do you think I care?" He whispered in her ear, the breath on her ear making her shiver. "It's disappointing you haven't got any more, that when I came all the way here" The man whispered. "In that case.." Kotoko gasped when she felt his hand rub her thigh. "Maybe you could be of use to me.." He whispered and Kotoko struggled, only to be tugged hard at her hair, making her scream in pain. "Please!" She begged. "Now be quiet." Her mouth was covered with one hand, and he slowly started cutting away her clothing with the knife. Kotoko shut her eyes and struggled, causing her skin to touch the knife, making her bleed.

Her eyes shot open when she heard loud thumbs on the stairs, and then everything happened in a flash. Naoki, Nishigaki and someone she couldn't recognize came barging in and she didn't know what was happening, as she was slowly losing consciousness. All she could hear was shouting voices, she could feel someone grab her hand, a voice shouting her name, Naoki's voice. But then she couldn't hear anything anymore. She was just surrounded by darkness.

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Kotoko slowly opened her eyes, felt her head hurt, closed them again, but still tried to open them again. "Kotoko?" That was her father's voice. What happened? As she brought her hand to her head, feeling it hurt, she slowly remembered what happened. She then suddenly sat up straight. "Kotoko-chan relax! It's over.." It was Mrs. Irie. The last thing she knew was losing consciousness, now she was in bed, and Mrs. Irie, her father and Naoki were with her. "Irie-kun! Kotomi.." "She's alright" He slowly got up from the chair he was sitting on, sat down on the bed, and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry.." Kotoko blinked, and then felt slowly how tears of relief were forming in her eyes. "I-Irie-kun!" She suddenly cried out loud, sobbing in his chest and wrapping her arms tightly around him. "I-I was so scared! I t-thought I was going to die! I thought t-that h-he would hurt Kotomi!" It had been a while since Naoki heard her cry this hard. He felt an unbearable pain in his heart. It was his fault that this happened. Kotoko had been unconscious for three whole hours. In the meanwhile they had talked with the police. The man that had broke into their house, seemed to be the father of a child in the hospital. Naoki finally recognized him, after he and his colleagues had him down. The child was one of his patients, had no mother, and Naoki remembered talking with the father about his wife, and how she would be home alone today. That man was in desperate need of money in order to pay the hospital. Normally Naoki never spoke about his wife, but the man just started about it. How could he be so stupid? On top of that, he forgot to lock the door when he left. Never had he felt this ashamed of himself.

"Kotoko… I'm sorry.." He said. "It was all my fault this happened.. to you, to Kotomi.." He caressed the spot on her chest where she had been cut with the knife. It was now covered with a plaster-aid, it was only a small cut. "A-are you blaming yourself? No it's my fault Irie-kun, I should have watched my back" Kotoko said. "That's enough!" With tears in her eyes, Mrs. Irie stood up, startling the both of them. "Stop blaming yourselves, Kotoko-chan, Onii-chan! You arrived in time Onii-chan, Kotoko-chan and Kotomi-chan are safe, that's all what's important! So stop blaming yourselves, you'll only make it worse!" She shrieked. "Oba-sama…" Mrs. Irie was right. After a few seconds of silence, Naoki smirked.

"We are one pathetic couple" He whispered and he patted Kotoko's head

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The uneasy feeling Naoki had felt this morning, maybe it was because deep inside he felt something like this coming. When it was about Kotoko, he always got these unaware feelings.

"I'm wondering how you manage to do it all the time" Naoki said with a smirk. It was late in the evening, and he and Kotoko sat on the couch, cuddling. The others were already asleep. "Do what?" Kotoko asked. "Attract trouble. Since the day I met you, my life has been a complete mess, you know" Naoki said, and Kotoko fell silent, not knowing how she should take that comment. Naoki looked at her and smiled. "That's because I worry about you every time" Naoki said, and Kotoko smiled. "I'm sorry" She whispered. "And up until I met you, I also never blamed myself before" Kotoko giggled at this statement. "I'm sorry" She whispered teasingly again, and she kissed him.

Whatever happened, one kiss from Naoki could make Kotoko's mind clear again. All her sorrows and fears would just fade away.

**End of this chapter**


	3. C: Challenge

**Here a weird chapter for you guys, because I just had no idea what to do with the C ^_^**

**Kotoko owns! :D  
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**C – Challenge**

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It was Monday, late in the evening, and Naoki was busy with a thesis for his work. He felt really stressed, because he had to be finished by the end of the week. And it was a lot of work. He jolted when he suddenly felt Kotoko rub his shoulders. "Irie-kun are you okay?" Her touch felt good, but if there was one thing that could distract him, it was Kotoko touching him. He didn't want to, but before he knew it the words came out. "Why do you always have to touch me? Don't you see I'm working?" Kotoko jumped in shock and backed away.

"Ahem, sorry, I only wanted-" "just don't touch me! It's annoying!" The words slipped out of his mouth, and Naoki felt how he had no control. "Fine then! Then if you prefer so I won't touch you at all until you're done with your thesis!" Kotoko replied with a loud voice, and Naoki could notice her cheeks were starting to get the rosy color they always got when Kotoko was angry.

"Do as you wish"

"But then you can't touch me either! I bet you wouldn't be able to stand it!" She rattled.

"Of course I could stand not touching you for only one week!" Naoki felt embarrassed because of their pointless quarrel. If he would hear another couple quarrel like that, he would absolutely laugh at them.

"Well, me too!" Kotoko yelled.

"Is that a challenge?" Naoki asked, a mischievous tone in his voice which Kotoko didn't notice.

"Oh you bet it is!"

"Fine then" "If you touch me before you finish your thesis you lose!" Kotoko said, pointing with her index finger at him.

"So if you touch me, you're the one who loses?" Naoki asked, not looking up from his work.

"That's right"

"Fine then"

"It's on!" Kotoko yelled, and she dashed out of the room. Naoki wondered if she was serious about this, it was meaningless anyway. He shook his head, shaking her out of his thoughts, and continued with his work.

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"So you don't even want a kiss from me?" Naoki asked. It was already the next morning, and he and Kotoko were putting on their shoes, ready to leave.

"Nope" Kotoko said stubbornly with her chin in the air. "Bye Kotomi!" Kotoko kissed Kotomi's forehead. "Bye Kotoko-chan! Onii-chan" Mrs. Irie said, who was holding Kotomi in her arms.

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"A challenge?"

Kotoko nodded. She had explained the situation to Marina, Tomoko and Motoki. "No way, you're so gonna lose it" Marina said. "I'm not!" Kotoko yelled. "I thought you said before, that you at least needed one kiss from him everyday" Tomoko said. "No way! I never said such a thing!" With her hands on her hips Kotoko laughed loudly. "So what will the winner get?" Kotoko stopped laughing and thought. "Hmm I don't know, haven't thought about that at all" She mumbled. Motoki laughed. "This is going to be interesting. It's kind of meaningless though" Kotoko looked up at him/her. "I have always wanted to challenge Irie-kun! Never thought of something like this! It's not about intelligence or talent, so I have a chance to win this from him" Kotoko said. "Whatever" The trio said, and they laughed.

Even though Naoki found their "challenge" stupid and pointless, he was quite satisfied with it. Now he wouldn't be bothered by his wife touching him, he could use his full concentration for the thesis. He stayed a few hours longer at his work, so he could work on it there, and then went home. When he came home, everyone had already had dinner, and the family was watching the TV, while Kotoko was playing with Kotomi. "Ah Irie-kun, welcome back!" Kotoko greeted. She acted like she normally did, and he thought she might have even forgotten about their "challenge". Still he didn't go to her to give her a kiss (like they normally did). He quickly ate something and then went upstairs to work on his thesis. "Kotoko-chan, are you two fighting or something?" Mrs. Irie asked. Kotoko shook her head. "Not really" She said with a smile. "Yeah I thought too I felt some tension between you two." Kotoko's father said. Kotoko laughed, but wasn't planning to tell them about it. She had realized how stupid their don't-touch-me-challenge actually was, but no way would she give in.

When it got late everyone went to bed, and Kotoko put Kotomi in her baby bed. Then she went to her own room where Naoki was working. "And, how's it going?" Kotoko asked. "Yeah, it's going well" Naoki answered. He had worked a lot on his thesis today, and actually it was almost finished. "Good" Kotoko started to undress, and Naoki caught a glimpse of her bare skin in the corner of his eye. She always just changed like that, but in this situation, it felt like she was being a huge tease, and he couldn't help but look at her. He quickly turned away, trying to ignore her. He felt so childish. Kotoko was undressing very slowly, while she hummed a melody.

"Irie-kun have you seen my nightgown anywhere?" Naoki turned and tried not to blush. "No I haven't" He said. She _was_ teasing him. He just knew it. He looked around but didn't see it anywhere. "Oh I think I see it" Kotoko bent down and grabbed her nightgown from under the bed. She looked very tempting, only in her underwear and bending down like that, but Naoki wasn't going to give in. "Good night" Kotoko stepped in bed and went to sleep. Naoki didn't want to keep her awake, so he stopped working and turned the light off.

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It was Wednesday, and mostly Kotoko had the day off on Wednesday. So she waved Naoki goodbye and went to care for Kotomi. Naoki had to work only half a day on Wednesday. So he left to work, and eventually returned at 3 o'clock. "Onii-chan! Welcome back" Mrs. Irie said. "Where's Kotoko?" "She's upstairs with Kotomi" Naoki went upstairs to see what she was up to. "Kotoko?" He opened the door to their room, and saw she was sitting on the bed, breastfeeding Kotomi. Aside from singing lullabies, breastfeeding was also something he loved when she did. It made her look so calm and caring. "Oh, hey Irie-kun! Welcome back" Kotoko said and she smiled at him. "I'll go downstairs, so you can work on your thesis here" Kotoko said, getting off the bed with Kotomi and pulling her shirt back up. "But.." "I don't want to be a burden to you Irie-kun" The door closed, and Naoki was left alone.

He felt pathetic, she was teasing him, he could notice from the tone in her voice. Still he didn't like it when she walked away like that. She couldn't have the upper hand in their competition! He sighed and sat down at his desk to work on the last part. You couldn't see it, but Naoki was actually dying. He really wanted to kiss Kotoko, or just being able to touch her arm would make him feel satisfied. But he was too stubborn to do it. He'd only have to wait a little longer, and then his thesis would be finished and they could stop this nonsense.

He worked till 5 o'clock, and thought he could take a break and finish the rest later. He was almost done, but right now he really needed a drink. So he left the room, and almost jumped in shock. He crossed paths with Kotoko who just came out of the shower, and was only wrapped in a towel. Kotoko screamed in shock when she saw him and calmed down immediately. "Oh! Sorry Irie-kun, you surprised me!" Kotoko laughed and wanted to get past him into the bedroom. "Move" She said. Naoki stepped aside, taking a good look at her body as he did so. "Tempting?" Kotoko asked teasingly, making him blush and walk away in frustration. "Not really" He said while he walked down the stairs, and Kotoko giggled. Naoki drank some coffee with the family and then went back upstairs. Kotoko was fixing her hair in the bathroom. He quickly finished the last part, and then leaned back, letting out a relieved sigh. He was finished. Kotoko came in to get some jewelries and noticed him.

"You going somewhere?" Naoki asked.

"Yeah, Satomi invited me for dinner" Kotoko said, as she chose some earrings.

"You know, my thesis is finished. So can we quit the nonsense?" Naoki asked, trying to keep his cool.

"Hmm, but it's only Wednesday right? I thought you said you'd be finished around Friday" Kotoko said.

"Well I'm not" Naoki said, a little annoyed.

"Hmm, I think the 'whole week' was a part of the competition, so let's extend it then" Kotoko said. Naoki couldn't believe it, was she doing this just to piss him off? He clenched his fist and got up. "So, I'll be at Satomi's place tonight, you-" Kotoko squealed in surprise as Naoki approached her, roughly pushed her against the wall and kissed her. "Hmphh!" Kotoko's eyes widened in surprise. "Don't go" Naoki whispered, and he kissed her some more. Kotoko finally answered the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on her tiptoes. Naoki slowly dragged her towards the bed, and pulled her down along with him. He couldn't believe that she affected him that much, he just couldn't wait anymore. They rolled on the bed so Kotoko was now under him. Yuuki wanted to tell them Mrs. Irie had dinner ready, but when he saw they were in an exciting make-out session, he closed the door again with a blush. Naoki slowly started kissing down Kotoko's neck, sending shivers down her spine.

"I win.." Kotoko whispered. "Hmm?" Naoki stopped kissing her and looked at her. "I win the competition" Kotoko said softly, and a mischievous smile appeared on her face. "So, what's your reward?" Naoki asked. "You" She whispered, and she pulled him down again, kissing him passionately. His hands rubbed her body, making her moan. Naoki suppressed a gasp when her cold hands moved under his shirt. Then they both jumped in shock when Kotoko's cell phone rang. "Oh.." A little dazed, Kotoko grabbed her phone. "Hello?" While Kotoko was talking on the phone, Naoki planted soft kisses in her neck, making her shiver. Kotoko hung up and smiled.

"That was Satomi, I really have to go" She got up and fixed her hair. Trying not to show his disappointment, Naoki smirked and got off the bed. "Fine then, I'll stay with Kotomi" Naoki said. "Yes, do that" Kotoko smiled playfully and hugged him. They walked downstairs and Kotoko put her coat on. "Well then, I'm off!" Kotoko gave Naoki and Kotomi a kiss and waved at the others. Naoki watched her leave, not disappointed anymore. The kisses they just had made him satisfied, and she would be back soon.

He could just kiss and touch her anytime he wanted, no stupid competitions.

**End of this chapter**


	4. D: Date

**AN: Actually I wanted to wait with uploading this (till I had more chapters done) but somehow I ended up still uploading it already x3 **

**Hmm writing this chapter was really fun, Kotoko owns! :D**

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****D – Date**

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"Papa!" It was Saturday morning and Naoki grumbled in his sleep as his daughter tried to shake him awake. If it wasn't his wife waking him early in the morning, it would be his daughter. Kotomi was now four years old. She had his color of hair, but other than that she was just a second Kotoko. Whenever Kotoko wanted his attention when Kotomi was near, Kotomi wanted his attention too (what could lead to bickering between the two). Whenever Kotoko was angry at him, Kotomi was angry too. Seriously. Aside from that Kotomi had the same loud character as Kotoko.

"Papa!" Kotomi pouted. "What is it" He mumbled, still not opening his eyes. "Help me pack my stuff, I'm going to a theme park with uncle Yuuki and granny, remember?" The cute and childish voice rattled in his ear. "Hmm… where's mommy then" Naoki had gone to bed pretty late previous night, so he felt pretty tired. "In the shower" "Can't you wait a little longer then.." "No way! Papa get up!" Naoki sighed and got up.

* * *

Work was killing. Kotoko and Naoki had been very busy with work and also with Kotomi. Since they hadn't had a lot of time to relax, Mrs. Irie said that she and Yuuki (Kotomi loved Yuuki) would take Kotomi to a theme park on Saturday, so that Naoki and Kotoko had some time for themselves. Naoki finally was out of his bed, and helped Kotomi get some snacks and drinks. "Ah Irie-kun, you're up already" Kotoko came walking out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel like usual. "Yeah" Naoki said. Mrs. Irie and Yuuki were done preparing, so they called Kotomi. "Onii-chan! Kotoko-chan! We're leaving!" Mrs. Irie called upstairs. Naoki and Kotoko walked down and gave Kotomi a kiss. "Have fun today!" Kotoko said, and Naoki patted her head. "Bye bye!" The door closed behind them.

"So where are we going for our date?" Kotoko asked. She was still in her towel, and she walked back upstairs while Naoki was thinking it was kind of stupid to still call it a 'date' now they were married. "I read in the newspaper there would be a play, in the city" Naoki said."What play?" Naoki shrugged. Before he could tell her to get dressed first, Kotoko was downstairs again and looked in the newspaper. "Romeo and Juliet! It's Romeo and Juliet, that's so romantic, let's go!" Kotoko said, and Naoki regretted he had mentioned it. "Okay" He said, he couldn't say no now she was so happy. "Yay!" Kotoko ran towards him and jumped in his arms, with the newspaper still in her hands. "Woa!" Naoki stepped back, almost losing balance, but eventually wrapped his arms around her. "What time will it take place?" He asked. Kotoko let go of him and looked. "3 o'clock, so we still have enough time" Kotoko said, and she went upstairs.

After Kotoko was fully dressed, she and Naoki had lunch together and then headed for the city. They arrived at the theatre building, bought tickets and found their seats. "I'm so excited!" Kotoko squealed, jumping up and down in her seat. "Hey calm down" Naoki said. "Hmph you're so cold, I've just always loved Romeo and Juliet" Kotoko said and she pouted. "I only said you should calm down". Before they could even start bickering, the lights were turned off and the noises faded, and the stage drew all attention. While enjoying the show, Kotoko sat closer to Naoki and grabbed his hand, acting all romantic. Naoki who was already used to this just sometimes stroked her hand back, but was concentrating more on the play. When the ballroom scene started, Naoki did take a look at Kotoko and noticed her eyes were all sparkling. How happy could she get from just a play? He blushed because she looked cute and continued watching the play. After the ballroom scene there was announced there would be an intermission of ten minutes, so Naoki and Kotoko got up to get something to drink. "That was so romantic!" Kotoko said cheerfully. Naoki handed her a drink and they sat down at a table.

Kotoko turned on her phone again and noticed one missed call from Mrs. Irie. "Oba-sama called" Kotoko said, and she called back. "Ah Kotoko-chan! Yes we called you, Kotomi wanted to talk to you" Mrs. Irie said. "Here she is" Kotoko heard some rustles and then the voice of her daughter. "Mama!" "Hey Kotomi, how are you doing? Oh, you want daddy? Here he is" Kotoko handed Naoki the phone, and then found her perfect chance. She beckoned she needed to go to the toilet and ran off. This was her chance, she really admired the actors in the play, so she really wanted an autograph from them (and she didn't notice how childish she was acting).

"Backstage" She read aloud, and peeked into the room. "Hmm.." She turned around again and walked into someone. "Kya!" She fell back against the door. "I'm sorry, are you okay?" Kotoko looked up and gasped. It was Romeo. "Romeo!" She squeaked. "Heheh yeah, I'm sorry, I was in a hurry" He helped Kotoko get up and smiled.

"You were seriously amazing out there! I can't wait to see the rest of the play. I actually –"

"- Yeah about that.." Romeo cut her off. "I'm afraid the play won't be able to go on.." Romeo's actor said, scratching his head uneasily.

"W-what? But why?" Kotoko asked. "Well see, Mariko, Juliet's actress, became unwell just now, that's why we had to do an intermission. We thought maybe she would feel better after a little rest, but her manager has already taken her home. It's hopeless" Romeo sighed. "They're inside discussing if they should cancel the play" Romeo said, pointing at the room in which Kotoko tried to peek. "Aww" Kotoko looked down. "Unless.." Romeo continued. "Unless we find someone to replace her" Romeo said, giving Kotoko a hopeful look. Kotoko first looked around her, and then pointed at herself. "M-me?" Romeo nodded. "Do you know the lines?" He asked. Kotoko knew them too well. She nodded. "Good" Before Kotoko could do anything, Romeo opened the door and she was pulled along with him into the room.

"See! I TOLD you we needed an understudy! But noooo you guys wanted-" The people in the room suddenly stopped bickering and noticed that Romeo and Kotoko had entered the room. "Keisuke! I'm afraid we'll have to cancel –" "- no wait!" Romeo yelled, whose real name seemed to be Keisuke. "I have a solution!" He said cheerfully, holding Kotoko's hand in the air. "This girl can replace her, what's your name?" He quickly asked between his enthusiasm. "K-Kotoko.." She stuttered. "But.. Keisuke, are you sure? We can't just let some random person replace her, can we?" One of the men in the room said. "But we also can't let everyone go home now, right?" Keisuke said, folding his arms. There was a moment of silence. "You know the lines?" One of them asked Kotoko. "Oh y-yes" Kotoko squeaked. She suddenly felt her face burn with embarrassment. "Say them".

* * *

Naoki was still at the same place where Kotoko had left, and gazed every minute at his watch. Kotoko was taking too long! Maybe she was fixing her make up. Or.. she was lost. A tune filled the room, followed by the announcement that everyone could go back to their seats. Naoki sighed, looked once more around and then left. 'That idiot' He thought as he headed back to their seats. He expected her to sit there already with a big grin on her face, saying "surpriiise!", or well, he hoped she was, but both their seats were empty. He sat down, and only when the lights again were turned off, he felt that horrible feeling of worry again. He turned both his and Kotoko's cell phone off and watched the curtain slowly open, revealing a balcony.

"Are you ready?" They whispered at Kotoko. "Yes.." Kotoko felt her face burn, her heart pound, but she would do it. She'll show Naoki what she was made off. She'll show everyone, for the sake of the play!

First Romeo was shown, sneaking into the garden, hiding. While Romeo was saying some lines, Naoki looked around, trying not to worry. Kotoko probably was still at the toilet, didn't hear the announcement, would arrive in the canteen and notice everyone was gone. That would be typical her. And then loudly barge in, and disturb the silence and the play. Yes, that was what he would expect from her.

"_O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?  
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;  
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,  
And I'll no longer be a Capulet."_

Naoki's eyes widened, he stopped looking around and looked back at the stage, recognizing the voice. For a moment he thought he'd go crazy. There, standing on the balcony above Romeo, was Kotoko standing. Kotoko! His wife! While Romeo was saying his lines Naoki was staring at Kotoko with big eyes. She was wearing a classic dress, and she looked amazing.

"_'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.  
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.  
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,  
Nor arm, nor face. __O, be some other name  
Belonging to a man."_

It was still unbelievable. Naoki heard whispers here and there that the actress was a different one from the previous, but they found her good. So did he. He couldn't hear the words, the lines, or anything anymore. Never in his whole married life would he have expected Kotoko could do such a thing, and he could do nothing but look at her. Kotoko was fulfilling Juliet's role in the play successfully. They also managed to make up a good fake kissing scene. Maybe Naoki was now sitting there without his wife by his side, but he knew, he was enjoying this half of the play more than the first half. Watching Kotoko acting like Juliet wasn't something he'd ever expected to see, and it was very amusing.

At the end of the play all actors came on stage, bowed and left again after having received a huge ovation. "Phew!" Backstage Kotoko sat on a chair and sighed. Never had she expected that acting was this tiring. "Kotoko!" Keisuke came at her and shook her hand. "Thank you so much for your help, you were amazing!" Kotoko blushed. "Thank you!" And then every single person backstage came to her to thank her. Finally Kotoko changed back in her own clothes and talked some more with the people. "No I'm serious, can we do anything for you, you helped us a lot, maybe we can pay-" "No no!" Kotoko shook her head at the director. "No thank you, I don't need money, it was great enough I could take part! This was sure an amazing experience" Kotoko said cheerfully. She bowed, talked some more and then finally they let her leave.

* * *

When Kotoko returned to the hall, Naoki wasn't there anymore. She blinked, looked around and then shrugged, heading outside. "Ah, Irie-kun!" She looked surprised at her husband who stood waiting for her to come outside. "Irie-kun, I-I thought you had already left.." Kotoko mumbled. First Naoki only stared at her. Then he approached her, took her by her shoulders and held her. "What are you, crazy, of course I waited for you" He said as he held her close to him. "You were amazing.." He whispered. "Thank you!" Kotoko squealed, and she lifted her arms and wrapped them around him. "That sure was an interesting _date_" Naoki said with a smirk, and Kotoko giggled. "I know right?" She said playfully as they let go of each other, took each other's hand and walked away to find a place to eat.

"So, how did you know the lines? And seriously, all of them?" Naoki asked. He and Kotoko were having dinner together at a restaurant, and were still talking about the play. "Well.." Kotoko blushed. "Well?" Kotoko swallowed and blushed even more. "I.. back in high school.. I used to .. please don't laugh at me.. but I used to watch and read Romeo and Juliet a lot, and I always pretended that I was Juliet and you were Romeo…" Kotoko mumbled, face red with embarrassment. Naoki stared for a moment at her, and Kotoko flinched. Then Naoki laughed. He laughed really hard and Kotoko bent her head down. She was afraid he would react like that. "Hahaha that's so you!" Naoki laughed. Finally Kotoko looked up at him and she smiled. On the other side, she didn't get to see Naoki laugh like that this much, so she'd better enjoy this moment. "Yeah" Kotoko giggled. "I was afraid you'd laugh at me" She said. After dinner and some drinks, they walked home. When they got back home they both were pretty tired, so they greeted Mr. Irie and Kotoko's father (Mrs. Irie, Kotomi and Yuuki would have dinner at the theme park and still weren't back yet), and then went to their room. After changing in their pajamas, they shared some kisses and then went to sleep.

* * *

_Next morning…_

"What is _this_?" Kotoko shrieked. She was having breakfast, and Naoki showed her the newspaper. There were pictures of the play, and her, with an article about how she fell in for the actress who became unwell. "Mommy's in the newspaper!" Kotomi squealed. The newspaper was grasped out of her hand. "Oh my god, Kotoko-chan!" Mrs. Irie said. Everyone started fighting over the newspaper to see it.

"You didn't tell us about this?" Kotoko sighed and prepared to explain, while Naoki watched them with an amused look.

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**End of this Chapter**


	5. E: Eriko

**AN: I finished Chapter E! :D **

**It's very random ^_^ **

**And you'll all probably think Eriko? What/who's that? Well she's a character I made up myself, but I'm not gonna tell more, just read an find out ;)**

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****E – Eriko**

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"Aunt Eriko?" Kotoko squealed. Her father nodded. "She's in Japan and she called me, she said she'd come to see us" He explained. "Your aunt?" Naoki asked. "Yeah, dad's sister Eriko-san, she lives in America, I haven't seen her a lot in my life, I also can't really remember what she was like" Kotoko said, and she got up and ran upstairs. They watched her go and come back. "Here" She handed Naoki a picture. "Hmm you never told me about her" Naoki said while looking at the picture. "Yeah I know" Kotoko said as Naoki handed her the picture back. "So she'll come visit us?" Mrs. Irie asked. "That's amazing, she's very welcome here!" She squealed.

The bell rang and everyone dashed to the door. At the door was a beautiful young woman. "Hello!" She greeted. She could speak Japanese, she looked Japanese, but she had a sort of English accent. "Eriko! It's been a while!" Kotoko's dad said and he hugged her. "Onii-chan! You look so well, how are you doing?" Eriko said, giving him a kiss on the cheek and entering the house. "Yeah everything's going well" He said, leading her to the hall where the whole family was waiting. "Oh and who are they?" Eriko asked, pointing at them. "They're my family now" He answered. Eriko noticed Kotoko standing between them. "Kotoko-chan!" She squealed. She ran towards her and hugged her. "Aww you've grown into such a beautiful woman Kotoko-chan!" She squealed, pinching Kotoko's cheek. "T-thanks! You too Eriko-san, you're even more beautiful than I can remember" Kotoko said.

While Eriko introduced herself to the others, and the others did so too, Kotoko's father went to the kitchen to make some tea. "And this is your.. daughter!" Eriko lifted Kotomi and hugged her. "She's so adorable Kotoko-chan, just like you!" She said, and she put Kotomi back down. "And so this is your hubby?" Eriko asked Kotoko. "Yes, that's Naoki" Kotoko said with a blush. "Nice to meet you" Naoki said, forcing a smile. Another loud woman in house, he thought. "How adorable!" She planted two big kisses on Naoki's cheeks, leaving a lipstick mark on his cheeks. While Naoki wiped them off they went to the living room and sat down.

"Eriko-san, why don't you stay the night here?" Mrs. Irie asked cheerfully after they chatted a lot and drank tea. "I can?" Eriko asked. "Of course!" Mrs. Irie squeaked. "Aw thank you! I would love that!".

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The next day, Naoki and Kotoko had to go to work again. "Bye" Kotoko said as they parted ways in the hospital. After a half day of work, Kotoko sat down on a bench and drank some juice. It was sure a busy day. The previous night with Eriko staying over was rather tiring too, Eriko chats TOO much. She just can't stop talking! It was actually annoying. Kotoko sighed, sipping her juice. "Kotoko-chan!" Kotoko stirred and slowly turned. She recognized that voice. Eriko came running at her. "I finally found you! Oh my god you look so sexy in that nurse outfit!" She squealed. "Eriko-san! What are you doing here?" Kotoko asked. "I wanted to see you! I forgot about it yesterday, look what I bought you!" She handed Kotoko a jewelry set, containing a necklace, bracelet and earrings. It was cute she gave them, but they were not really stuff Kotoko would wear. "They're from America!" Eriko said cheerfully. "T-thank you Eriko-san! I don't know what to say!" Kotoko stuttered. "But, couldn't you wait till I was back from work?" Kotoko asked. "No I couldn't! Come on, wear them!" "B-but…"

A few minutes later Kotoko was seriously wearing the jewelries, which were totally mismatched with her uniform. "I don't think.." "Come on, they look beautiful on you!" Eriko said. Kotoko sighed and finally managed to shake her off, saying she had to go back to work. When she walked back she was stopped by Marina, Motoki and Tomoko. "Who the heck was that?" Marina asked, while all three of them suppressed their laughs because Kotoko looked funny with those jewelries. Kotoko sighed and explained the situation. "I see, well I guess she's just happy to see you again" Tomoko said. "Yeah I know, but I think she's overdoing it a little" Kotoko said and she shrugged. "Irie-san!" Kotoko jumped and turned. The head nurse. "The patient from room 104 is calling for you! So stop chatting with your friends!" Her mood suddenly changed. "Oh my what lovely jewelries are you wearing.. now _go back to work!_" The head nurse was always like that.

After a few more hours of work Kotoko ran into Naoki. "What are you wearing?" He asked. "Oh these? Well…" Before Kotoko could answer she was called and she had to leave already. Naoki watched her walk away again, raising his eyebrows.

* * *

"Today was sure a busy day!" Kotoko sighed. She and Naoki were walking home together, finally done working. "Yeah, but where did you get those jewelries from? They look awful on you" Naoki said. "Well thank you!" Kotoko said annoyed. "I got them from Eriko-san. I don't really like them either but I just think I should wear them" Kotoko said. "If you don't want to then don't" Naoki said. Kotoko ignored him.

"We're back!" Kotoko and Naoki greeted the others and went upstairs to change in their normal outfits. After they had changed Kotoko let herself fall on the bed. "But to be honest, Eriko-san's presence is pretty tiring" Kotoko said with a sigh. "Now you know what I felt like when you moved into our house" Naoki said. Kotoko glared at him. "Hmph you're not nice" Kotoko grumbled. "Kotoko-chan?" They could hear Eriko's voice, and they could hear she was coming upstairs. "I wanna talk to you!" "Oh no, that means a one hour conversation, no!"

Kotoko quickly looked around and saw the closet. And before Naoki could do anything, or say anything, or even realize what was happening, Kotoko had pulled him into the closet with her, and closed the door.

"What the!-"

"Shhh!" Kotoko hissed.

"Hmm? I really thought Kotoko-chan was here!" They could hear Eriko talk to herself. Kotoko peeked through a small opening in the closet door. She saw Eriko walk around the room. "Leave.. leave.." She whispered in a hopeful tone. "Ohh!" Eriko had found the photo album from their wedding, sat down on the bed and started to look in it. Kotoko sighed. In the meanwhile Naoki was having a hard time. He and Kotoko were stuffed together in a closet that wasn't even bigger than the toilet closet. Their bodies were pressed against each other, it was getting hot, and he could barely breathe. "Why isn't she leaving?" Kotoko hissed.

Then she gasped when she felt Naoki's hands creep under her shirt. Before she wondered what he was up to, she felt his long fingers slide up and down her body very slowly, sending shivers down her spine. "Irie-kun.. don't you dare.." Kotoko hissed. Naoki smirked and continued, teasing the flesh of her bare torso ever so slowly, while Kotoko had to bite her lip to keep in giggles. "Irie-kun it tickles! Stop it!" She hissed, as soft as possible. "I know" He whispered back, softly wiggling his fingers over her torso. Kotoko started to squirm, trying not to make any sounds. Naoki wrapped one arm around her, holding her even closer to him, and softly tickled her belly with the other. Kotoko covered her mouth with her hand while the other hand tried to fight against her husband's strength. "Hmphh!" She giggled in her hand as she kept squirming and fighting while Naoki just continued tickling her. Then he twirled his finger around in her belly button, what was the limit. Kotoko couldn't hold it anymore, and with a loud squeal she fell against the door, through which she and Naoki finally fell.

"Oh!" Eriko watched how Naoki and Kotoko tumbled out of the closet together. "Oh my, you were playing in the closet with your hubby? You naughty girl!" Eriko giggled. "Now come on, I want to talk to you" She said as she helped Kotoko stand. "One on one" She added, giving Naoki a glare. Naoki got up and fixed his clothes. "Fine" He said as he walked to the door. "I'll get you for this" Kotoko hissed at him when he passed her, so Eriko couldn't hear.

"Now, what is it" Kotoko asked. "Come sit down" Eriko said, and she pulled Kotoko down along with her, sitting on the bed. "I just wondered… it's just a question, why did you marry a man like him?" She asked, beckoning at the door through which Naoki just left. "What do you mean?" Kotoko asked. "I just thought, you two look so.. mismatched! I mean, you need a man who's funny and outgoing, and he's the opposite!" Eriko commented. "Maybe he is, but I love him!" Kotoko said, and her cheeks were getting red.

"And why do you call him 'Irie-kun'? It's so distant! Are you sure you love hi-"

"- All this is none of your business! Please don't interfere! I love him, so no need discussing about it !" Kotoko said with a loud voice. "I'm not trying to interfere! Kotoko-chan!" Eriko said desperately as Kotoko stood up and left the room.

* * *

When they all had dinner together, there was an awkward tension between Kotoko and Eriko. Naoki already sent Kotoko a questioning look but she ignored it. Kotoko could just not stand that she _again_ was told how mismatched she and her husband were. What did they know? What did anyone know about her relationship with Naoki? "Hey Eriko-san, you're a really nice person, why not stay another night?" Mrs. Irie asked. Naoki noticed Kotoko's eyebrow started twitching. "Sure!" Eriko said with a big smile. "Thank you very much! I really appreciate it" She said. After dinner Eriko and Mrs. Irie did the dishes, and Kotoko went upstairs. "Another night" She sighed, and she let herself fall on bed.

"Kotoko?" She looked up and saw Naoki entering the room. He sat down on the bed. "Did something happen?" He asked. Kotoko shook her head. He wanted to move closer, but Kotoko immediately grabbed the pillow and placed it between them. "Don't you even dare tickle me or whatever you were up to! I'm just in a bad mood, and no I don't want to smile now.." She sighed. "I wasn't, but should I leave you alone then?" He asked. Kotoko nodded, and Naoki left the room. Kotoko wondered why she was so upset about what Eriko had told her. Maybe because deep, deep down inside her, she was afraid she was right. That maybe they, after all, were mismatched. But... what's the deal? Mismatched or matched, they loved each other and that's what's important. Kotoko felt her familiar feeling of determination return. Yes, she wouldn't let herself suffer from such a comment.

"Eriko-san" Naoki knocked the door of the spare room where Eriko was staying. "Hmm?" She opened the door. "Ah, Naoki-san! What's up?" She asked. "Can I come in?" Naoki asked. "Sure!" Eriko let him enter, and Naoki sat down on a chair, while Eriko closed the door and sat down on the bed. "What's the matter?" She asked. "I wondered if something happened between you and Kotoko" Naoki said. Straight to the point. "She's been acting down since you two had a conversation together, may I know what happened?" Naoki asked. Eriko sighed. "We just had a disagreement" She said. "About what?" Naoki asked. Eriko stared at him for a moment, narrowing her eyes. "Naoki, why did you marry Kotoko-chan?" She asked. "Sorry?" "You heard me. That's what the disagreement was about. I think you two are mismatched. I think Kotoko-chan would be more suitable to a man who's not as serious and cold as you" Eriko said. Naoki didn't know if he liked Eriko or not, but she sure was honest. "I've heard things like that before" Naoki said. "Hmm I won't bother you with explaining all I feel for her, but I know we have different personalities. But that's what makes us a whole. Kotoko is very different from me, and I actually can't explain well, but since our younger years she's the only girl who has ever affected me" Naoki explained.

"Hmm I see, ah well, I'll apologize to her tomorrow" Eriko said, standing up and Naoki realized he had to leave. "Okay, thank you for listening" Naoki said, walking through the door. "No… thank _you_ for telling" Eriko replied. "Wait" Naoki stopped the door from closing, and stepped half back in the room. "If you care that much about Kotoko, why did you leave her? Kotoko had never told me she had an aunt, they never talk about you" Naoki said. "Oh that.. I moved to America for my work, but… I kind of felt like I left them behind indeed, I couldn't face them anymore, I wanted to write, or call, but I don't know, it just felt strange" Before Naoki could answer she opened her mouth again. "And I know it's stupid of me, but, I guess everyone makes mistakes, right?" She said. Naoki smiled and nodded. He left and Eriko closed the door. After she heard Naoki's footsteps disappear in the direction of his room, she opened the door again and sneaked towards their door. And listened.

"Feeling better?" Naoki asked Kotoko, who was reading Kotomi a story. "Ah, yes, Irie-kun" Kotoko said and she smiled. "You go brush your teeth and put your pajamas on" Naoki told Kotomi, and she nodded and left the room obediently (Eriko quickly hid, and then got back to listening). "I wondered if you were probably feeling down because of a certain comment, that we are a mismatched couple?" Naoki asked. Kotoko blinked and gave him a questioning look. "Yes I had a conversation with Eriko-san. But, does it bother you?" Kotoko said nothing and Naoki sat down next to her on the bed. "Kotoko" Kotoko was surprised when he grabbed her hands, and held them. "I don't care if we are matched, or mismatched. I don't care at all what other people think. I love you, isn't that all that counts?" Kotoko blushed, it was did not occur a lot that Naoki talked romantic like that. She was so happy he felt the same way as she finally did. When she thought so, she still felt unsure. But now..

"Irie-kun!" Kotoko threw her arms around his neck. "I love you so much, Irie-kun!" She squealed. "I love you too" Naoki said, and he kissed her. Eriko smiled and walked back to her own room. She was wrong, Kotoko was in good hands. She was satisfied.

"Seriously, how many times do I have to tell you that I love you?" Naoki asked her teasingly. "I'm sorry, sometimes I'm just so insecure" Kotoko said with a blush. "You shouldn't be" Naoki said, pushing her back on the bed and giving her another long passionate kiss. "Kotomi wants one too!" They stirred and looked at their daughter who stood beside the bed, watching them. "Can I have a kiss too, papa?" Kotomi asked, pouting her lips. Naoki gave her a little peck and lifted her. "Time for you to go to bed" He said. "Say good night to mommy" Naoki said. "Good night mommy!" Kotomi squealed, stretching her arms at Kotoko, motioning she wanted a hug. Kotoko hugged her and gave her a kiss. "Good night Kotomi!".

* * *

The next morning it was Sunday, and Kotoko and Naoki both didn't have to work, so they all had breakfast together. "So you're going back to America today?" Mrs. Irie asked. "Yes, I'm taking the flight of two o'clock" Eriko said with a nod. "Okay, we'll bring you there" Mrs. Irie said. "What's America?" Kotomi asked. While Mrs. Irie explained, the others emptied the table, and Eriko did the dishes on her own.

"Eriko-san" Kotoko said. "Hey Kotoko-chan" Eriko said while doing the dishes. "I'm sorry about yesterday, I got angry" Kotoko apologized with a soft voice. "Aww Kotoko-chan!" Eriko stopped doing the dishes and faced her. "And I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions like that. I had a conversation with your hubby, and you two might not be this mismatched after all" She said with a smile. "Hehe, thanks" They hugged each other, but were interrupted by Kotomi who wanted a hug too.

"You should come here soon again Eriko-san" Kotoko said. "I know right? I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, and I'll be sure to come visit you more" Eriko said, and she looked at Naoki, who gave them a warm smile.

* * *

**End of this chapter**


	6. F: Fever

**AN: Finally! ^^ After a period of inspirationlessness.. (I guess thats a word that doesn't exist...), I finally decided to continue, with fresh inspiration :) You know, in times when I don't have inspiration, and get more addicted to AMV making and watching Anime, I feel like dropping the story. **

**But when I remember how wonderful it is to write, I just have to continue again :D I hope you'll keep supporting me, because I'll need it if I want to get to letter Z! **

**So here's the F letter chapter, and I warn you again, it's totally slice of life and contains nonsense now and then. You have been warned!**

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**F – Fever **

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Naoki woke up with Kotoko still next to him, with her face towards him, her eyes closed. Although it was early, Naoki was awake enough to be confused. It was rare that he woke up with Kotoko still next to him, because mostly she was up already up to shower, change and do her make-up. Naoki turned around and looked at the alarm clock. Yes, normally Kotoko would be up already. Ah well, there could always be exceptions. Careful not to wake her up, he moved a little closer to his wife and started caressing her hair softly. "Hmm…" Kotoko moaned in her sleep. Naoki grinned at this and moved his hand towards her face to stroke her cheek.

Then he froze. Her face was bloody hot! He brought his other hand to her face and felt her. Only then he noticed the sweat on her forehead. He moved the blankets away, her whole body was hot and sweating. "Hey! Kotoko!" He grabbed her shoulders and tried to wake her, not too roughly though. Kotoko slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. "It… hurts…" She mumbled. "What hurts?" Naoki asked. "My.. head" Kotoko mumbled. Naoki felt her face once more. "You have a fever, I'll get mom to check your temperature" Naoki went out of bed and left the room.

"Papa!"

"Good morning Kotomi, no not now, mommy's sick" Naoki said when Kotomi wanted him to lift her. "Aw.." Kotomi looked at their room and entered, while Naoki went downstairs to get his mother. "Naoki for god's sake! You're a doctor, why not do it yourself!" An annoyed mrs. Irie entered their room. "Aw poor Kotoko-chan!" Mrs. Irie said as she felt Kotoko's head. She checked her temperature and sighed. "Onii-chan! Where are you, Kotoko has a high fever!" Naoki entered the room, fully dressed. "Hmm that's not good, I can't stay though, I still need to go to work" Naoki said. "But Onii-chan! I promised my parents that Kotomi and I would visit them today! It is mother's birthday after all!" Mrs. Irie said.

"I can't help it! I have an important operation today, this patient is very sick, and-"

"- and your wife is very sick too!" Mrs. Irie yelled.

"It's only a fever!" Naoki yelled back. "Please…" They both stopped fighting and looked at Kotoko. She had opened her eyes a little, and looked at them. "Please don't fight… I can stay home by myself" Kotoko said weakly. "No! Kotoko-chan! Then I'll stay here" Mrs. Irie said, dramatically grabbing Kotoko's hand. Kotoko slowly shook her head. "No, just go… Kotomi was.. looking forward to it…" Kotoko whispered, and she looked at her daughter who was standing beside her bed side. "Mommy.." Kotomi hugged Kotoko. Kotoko smiled and looked back at Mrs. Irie. "I'll be fine" Kotoko said. Mrs. Irie looked at Kotoko with watery eyes. "Okay, Kotoko-chan! You're such an angel" She kissed Kotoko's cheek. "I'll go make you some toast okay? You have to eat something" Kotoko nodded, and Mrs. Irie left the room. Kotomi gave her mother a kiss and followed Mrs. Irie. "Get better soon mommy" She said as she left the room. "Kotoko…" Kotoko blinked and turned her head. She had actually forgotten that Naoki was still there. "Don't worry. I'll be fine" Kotoko said. "Now hurry, your… patient is… waiting…" Kotoko's eyes slowly closed as she brought out those words, and then she fell asleep again. Naoki grinned, walked towards her and kissed her forehead. "Don't do anything stupid" He said, and he turned the lights off and left the room.

* * *

"Irie-sensei! Good work" Naoki smiled at the nurse who complimented him and he sat down. He just finished the operation, and it was successful. He got up and went to the canteen to eat and drink something, he actually totally forgot to do that this morning. "Irie!" Marina approached him. "Where's Kotoko? She's not around is she?" Naoki shook his head. "She has a high fever" He said. "Awww.. that's rare, Kotoko's never been sick, I thought" Marina said. "Ah well, tell her to get better soon" Marina said, walking away again. Naoki sighed. The thought of Kotoko being home alone while having a high fever wasn't very comforting.

Meanwhile at home, Kotoko had woken up and was slowly eating her toast. Her throat hurt while swallowing, but she was kind of hungry. After the last bite, she put her plate on a nightstand and closed her eyes again.

"_Kotoko!" Kotoko looked up and saw Naoki approaching her. A few feet away from her he stood still and looked at her. "Irie-kun!" She happily ran towards him, but it didn't look like she was getting closer to him at all. The distance between them only got bigger and bigger, even though her legs were moving. "Irie-kun!" With a panicked tone in her voice, Kotoko still tried to run towards him. She gasped when she felt the ground under her feet tremble. "H-help, Irie-kun!" She stuttered in panic, while the ground around her slowly crumbled apart. Only the part where she and Naoki were standing were left. "Naoki!" She extended her arms, trying to reach him, but he didn't react at all, he just watched her. Then Kotoko screamed when long arms arose from the gorge. "NOOO!" Kotoko shrieked as the arms wrapped around her, hands pulled her, and she was slowly dragged towards the edge of the small piece of ground she was standing on. "NOOO! Irie-kun help me!"Kotoko cried, but he did nothing. Tears were forming in her eyes, and with one final tug, the arms pulled her off the ground, and she fell down. _

"IRIE-KUN!" Kotoko screamed as she sat up in bed. She was panting and sweating, and her heart was still pounding. "Oh… just a dream.." Kotoko sighed. "You had a nightmare?" Kotoko froze and looked around. She noticed Naoki sitting on a chair. He put away the newspaper he was reading and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Y-yes.." Kotoko said, wiping the sweat of her forehead. "Why aren't you at work?" She asked softly. "The operation was a success, now I can be home to take care of you" Naoki said, feeling her forehead. "How are you feeling?" He asked. Kotoko's face was already flushed, so he couldn't notice her blush. She had never really been sick before, but Naoki would take care of her now! She smiled a weak smile. "Not very good, but now you're here.. better.." Kotoko said, a little shy. "So what happened in your nightmare?" Naoki asked. "Hmm nothing special" Kotoko mumbled, and she yawned. "Hmm I see, want me to make you a warm meal?" Naoki asked. Kotoko actually had eaten the toast already, and her throat still hurt, but a warm meal from Naoki? She couldn't say no to that. Kotoko smiled and nodded. "Okay, I'll be back soon, please rest" Naoki said, pushing her a little so she would lie down again, and he got up and left the room.

A few minutes he was back, and Kotoko was asleep again. Naoki placed the porridge he made her on the nightstand and took out some medicine. "Kotoko" He tried to shake her awake. "Naoki! Don't leave me!" Kotoko suddenly shrieked, sitting up in her bed. "What, I'm not leaving you…" Naoki mumbled. "Don't leave me behind ever again! Please don't!" Kotoko started to cry, and Naoki tried to comfort her, a little confused though. Because Kotoko was always weird, he wasn't sure at first, but after a little bit more brawling of her, he knew her fever was this serious that she started to hallucinate things that were not there. Or things that were not happening. Either randomly, or based on her nightmare. She needed her medicine badly either way.

"Kotoko" He placed his hand on her shoulder, calming her down. "Calm down, I'm here and I won't leave you, here take this" He handed her the medicine, and after that he fed her the porridge. "It's yummy" Kotoko said. "Good" Naoki smiled as he continued feeding her. He couldn't remember seeing her that weak before, maybe when she was pregnant, but this certainly was something new for him. Of course he was a doctor and he knew what to do, but still. "Naoki… Naoki…" Kotoko kept on babbling, and Naoki hushed her to feed her some more porridge. Kotoko suddenly made some quick movement which Naoki didn't expect, and before he knew it, the porridge was down, on top of her. Kotoko was all covered in porridge and it looked actually funny. He held in a laugh and bent towards her to help her. "Argh look what you have done!" He said. Kotoko didn't say anything as her tired eyes watched him wipe the porridge off her. He got up and took a new pajamas out of the closet.

"Here.." He handed her the pajamas but received no response. Of course, she couldn't change herself, so he should do it. He felt kind of childish when he felt his heart pound when he slowly unbuttoned her top. She was now half naked, and while he was looking where he had left the new one, Kotoko leaned forward and lay down on his lap. Naoki froze and watched how her half naked body kept him from moving. "Kotoko! Hey.." Kotoko moaned and seemed to be comfortable that way. Naoki sighed and sat back, leaving her like that for a moment. He caressed her bare shoulder and watched her sleep. "Irie-kun…" Kotoko mumbled in her sleep. Ah, she was back to calling him 'Irie-kun' again. Naoki slowly lifted her, carefully not to perversely stare at her naked chest, and placed her back on the bed. He then leaned down to kiss her soft lips. He just couldn't resist, even when she had a fever. To his surprise she answered his kiss in her sleep, and she slowly lifted her bare arms, wrapping them around him slowly. Just when Naoki thought she shouldn't be naked like this when she's got a high fever, Kotoko was kissing him passionately, and he couldn't pull back like he wanted to. The door slammed open.

"Kotoko-chan how are you-" Mrs. Irie froze and her eyes widened. "ONII-CHAN! WHAT KIND OF DOCTOR ARE YOU, YOU PERVERT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and she pulled him away from Kotoko. "Mom what are you doing here!" Naoki bellowed. "I should ask you!" Was the loud answer. "I came back early for Kotoko" Naoki said. "Well, so did I!" Naoki and his mother glared at each other, and there was a moment of silence. Which was disturbed by a moaning Kotoko. "Naokiiii…" They both stared at Kotoko who was still asleep on the bed, half naked, and she was drooling. "W-why is she naked.." Mrs. Irie asked as she studied Kotoko with a twitching eye. "I wanted to help her change, her pajama top got covered in porridge so she needed a new one" Naoki explained, and Mrs. Irie nodded while whispering "I see…".

"So, where's Kotomi" He asked. "She's still with my parents, she had fun with the others so she was allowed to stay the night" Mrs. Irie said, while she helped Kotoko putting on the pajama top. "I see" Naoki sighed. "You didn't need to come back" He said. "I didn't know you would come back for her" Mrs. Irie said. Naoki knew he didn't always show the best husband side of him, but it still hurt a little to know what was expected from him. He was glad Kotoko was able to melt his ice, but sometimes it was really troublesome to have more feelings than before.

"So, you're staying here?" He asked his mother. "Yeah I'm staying with Kotoko! No way am I letting you alone with her again, she's very sick and needs rest! Pervert" She called him pervert again! Well hell! "Whatever" He walked away and closed the door.

* * *

A few days later Kotoko was completely healthy again.

"…And when I came back for you, you were on bed half naked, kissing with Onii-chan!" Mrs. Irie was dramatically explaining the situation to Kotoko, who didn't seem to remember any of it. "Oh really?" She blushed and covered her cheeks with her hands. "I did? We did? No way! I was sick! Wait! Maybe then – Irie-kun will get sick too?" Kotoko squeaked, looking with a panicked look at her husband. "As you see I'm totally fine" Naoki said, raising his hands. Why oh WHY did his mother have to tell her?

"Daddy was snogging mommy?" They all froze and looked at the door opening. Little Kotomi was standing there, looking innocently at them. "Kotomi! Where did you learn such language!" Kotoko bellowed. Kotomi ran away, chased by her mother. "Yes, Kotoko is back" Yuuki said with a smile. "Onii-chan pervert" He whispered at his brother. Naoki's face grew red with anger and embarrassment. This couldn't be his new nickname!

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**End of this chapter**


	7. G: Gossip

**AN: Yes I wrote two chapters for the next upload, I hope you'll enjoy them.. x_x**

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****G – Gossip**

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"Good work Irie-san! You can take a break now" Kotoko nodded at the head nurse and left to have a break. It was Tuesday afternoon, and it actually wasn't a very busy day. So everyone could take it easy. It was even this calm that the head nurse was in a good mood, and while Kotoko tried to remember if she had been complimented by the head nurse before, she caught a few words of a conversation. They came from the other side of the corner she was reaching, and they were similar voices of nurses she didn't know very well. But it didn't matter who they were, Kotoko could hear clearly that they were talking about Naoki.

"He's handsome isn't he? And nice too!" They giggled together, and Kotoko frowned. "Too bad he's married, I wish I had a husband like him" One of the nurses said. "But I heard he hasn't been very faithful lately" Kotoko jumped in shock and tried to hear them even better. "Oh really? But he seems so nice" One of the others said. "Yeah, I don't know if it could be true either, but I heard he was caught with Nanase-san before" Kotoko's eyes widened. Nanase Karin was a nurse who joined them this year. "Hmm, if it were true I wouldn't be surprised, Nanase-san is very pretty" Kotoko clenched her fist, they had to be lying, Naoki would never be unfaithful. Never!

"Girls!" A loud voice suddenly sounded through the hallway, and the girls squeaked. "Looks like a nice conversation, but please keep up the hard work!" The head nurse said, and the sound of her footsteps faded, so Kotoko could understand she had left already. The girls were lucky it was a peaceful day, if it were a busy day they would be yelled at. Kotoko could hear the girls walk away, and a few of them came in her direction so she quickly ran away. The rest of the day, Kotoko couldn't concentrate well. She kept thinking about what the other nurses said. She knew she should trust Naoki, but still! "Irie-san?" After helping a few patients Kotoko was walking around again, and she was stopped by Karin. Kotoko couldn't help but glare at her. "Eh I wanted to ask you something… if you don't mind" Kotoko forced herself to calm down and smile. "Sure!" Karin's face brightened. "Hmm you see, as you know it's Naoki's birthday next Thursday, and I wondered what you would think about taking him out for dinner this year, with the whole staff that is" Karin said with a sweet smile. It was every year that they did something for Naoki's birthday, but hearing it now at this moment, and from Karin, pissed Kotoko off. Still, she could control it.

"What a wonderful idea!" Kotoko said with a forced smile. "Really? Then I'll tell them! It'll be arranged by then!" Karin happily ran off, while Kotoko's eyes looked like they were on fire. Karin could at least involve her more, she was Naoki's wife after all! Why was _she_ going to arrange Naoki's birthday present? _"Because they're seeing each other"_ A small voice in her head said. "NO WAY!" Kotoko screamed and she kicked the wall uncontrollably. "Kotoko?" Kotoko froze with her leg still in the air and looked behind. It was Naoki. How embarrassing, of all moments they could run into each other, it had to be this one. "Oh… hey!" Kotoko laughed nervously, putting her leg back down. "Were you angry?" Naoki asked. "No! No I just felt like.. kicking the wall…." Kotoko was such a bad liar when it came to these kinds of things. She was so embarrassed! "I see.." Naoki shrugged. "You really are strange. Anyway, I wanted to tell you I'll be home late tonight, tell my parents not to wait with dinner" As he said that he walked away again, leaving Kotoko behind, speechless. She couldn't even ask him why he would be home late, she just stood there frozen with wide eyes. This had to be it. Naoki was cheating on her. Why on earth would he stay longer at work if it wasn't a busy day at all?

* * *

"Are you sure about it this time?" Marina asked after sighing dramatically. Kotoko nodded with a sad face. "Come on, you shouldn't take it so seriously, this isn't even the first time you think he's cheating on you, remember? I think it's just another misunderstanding" Marina said, shaking her head.

"But.."

"Kotoko!" Marina said with a warning tone in her voice. "We'll get serious when we're absolutely sure. Just confront him about it, that'll be easiest" Marina said. Kotoko first looked at her feet nervously, but then her face brightened. "You're right. Thanks, Marina".

When Kotoko came home she was welcomed by Kotomi who jumped in her arms, squealing "mommy!". Kotoko laughed and wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Hi Mi-chan! I'm home" She hugged her some more and put her back on the floor."Kotoko-chan, Onii-cha-.. oh.. Onii-chan is not with you?" Mrs. Irie asked. Kotoko shook her head. "He'll be home late" She said.

She opened her mouth to tell Mrs. Irie about her suspecting Naoki (again) but then closed her mouth again, thinking it would be chaos if Mrs. Irie knew about it.

* * *

"I'm home" Kotoko's heart pounded when she heard Naoki's voice. She'll confront him, she had decided to do it tonight. First she ignored him, and Naoki looked at her with a questioned look, wondering why she didn't want to kiss him like usual, but then shrugged and went upstairs. After waiting a few minutes she followed him. "Irie-kun..?" She asked, peeking into their room. "Just come in" Naoki said while changing into normal clothes. "Why are you so late? It wasn't busy at all today…" Kotoko's voice was soft, and controlled. She could do it. Naoki fell silent for a moment. "We had stuff to do" He said. "Who is we?" In a flash Kotoko saw Naoki and Karin doing 'stuff', but she quickly waved the it away. God, to think about such things... "Me and some other doctors. It's no big deal" Naoki looked at her. "Kotoko what's wrong? You've been acting strange lately" Naoki sounded sweet and caring. Kotoko's eyes softened as she looked at him, but quickly shook her head. She shouldn't fall for his charms, ask him!

"Hey Naoki, please.. be honest with me…" Naoki stared at her with questioning eyes. "Are you.. and Nanase Karin… are you two…" Naoki sighed. "I see, that's what's been bothering you. Seriously, I guess you heard rumors about us?" Kotoko blinked. "Hmm well, yeah, I just…" Naoki stood up and grabbed her shoulders gently. "I didn't know it would get to you, dense as you are" Naoki said, making Kotoko frown. "But of course, if it were something like that, of course you'd notice. You see, Karin did confess her love to me, but how many more times do I have to tell you, that you're the only one for me?" Kotoko blushed and looked down. "You know what's gossip all about, something tiny happens and people start making a fuss about it, really, there's nothing going on between Nanase-san and me, trust me" Naoki said with a sigh. "But… just now.. you were.." Kotoko mumbled, fidgeting with her fingers. Naoki sighed again.

"Geez, now you asked for it, I'll spoil the surprise. I thought since you're always so worked up about birthdays, it would be nice for the two of us to go out together again" Kotoko gave him a questioned look. "I booked a hotel for us for this weekend, my parents are paying for us and will look after Kotomi, that'll be their birthday present for me" Naoki said. Kotoko's face brightened and a huge smile appeared on her face. "Irie-kun that's great!" She jumped in his arms and kissed his cheek. "I knew you'd be happy, still I wanted it to be a surprise" Kotoko looked at him.

"But why did you have to stay longer at work then?" Kotoko asked. "I never said something about staying at work, I only said I'd be home late. What, you thought I'd stay at work to be lovey-dovey in secret with Nanase-san right? No, I went to arrange the hotel and trip. I also had to ask for some days off for the both of us" Naoki said. "You really are crazy, falling for gossip like that" He added. Kotoko pouted. "Pfuh! It's normal!" Kotoko squeaked.

"No it isn't"

"It is!" They stared each other in the eyes, and then Kotoko laughed.

"Heehee, but I'm happy it were just rumors. I love you, Irie-kun" "I love you too".

* * *

"And that's how it went… so, you were right Marina, it was again a misunderstanding" Kotoko said. She, Marina and Motoki stood together in the hallway, and Kotoko had just explained the situation. "It sure is romantic he booked a trip for the both of you" Motoki said. "Yeah true, but I still don't agree with him about Kotoko being stupid to fall for gossips! If the tables were turned I'm sure he would be upset too" Marina said with her hands on her hips. There was a moment of silence, then evil grins appeared on Motoki's and Marina's faces.

"W-what?" Kotoko asked. They approached her slowly with mischievous smiles on their faces. "We'll show him what it is like, right?" They said with scary voices, and Kotoko watched them with wide eyes in surprise.

* * *

"Naoki?" Naoki looked up from his papers at Nishigaki's face. "What is it" He said, looking back at his papers and continuing his work. "Is it true that Kotoko is seeing that new doctor? Kimimura Kei was his name" Nishigaki said with a frown. Naoki looked up at him, then sighed and continued working. "Of course not, where did you get that from" Naoki asked, a little grumpily. "I heard someone caught them in the basement.. together" Nishigaki said raising his hands. "As far as I know Kotoko is still my wife and not having an affair" Naoki said. "I see, well then I guess you're right" Nishigaki left, and Naoki looked back. What the hell was that all about. "I'm finished, now I'll be right back" He told a colleague, and he left off for the bathroom. While walking he noticed everyone was looking at him when he passed, and they quickly looked away when he made clear he noticed them. "Is Kotoko really leaving him?" He could hear someone whisper to someone else. He stopped walking and looked at them, they squeaked in surprise.

"What is this, a hospital or a high school? Gossip every day, geez, now where did you hear those things?" He asked, trying to stay nice. This was so annoying. He truly, truly hated gossip. Stupid rumors flying around regularly, it was just so annoying.

"Eh w-we.." One of them stuttered.

"- it seems someone caught them in the basement" said the other. "I did hear that already, who saw them?" He asked. "I don't know" Naoki sighed, turned away and continued walking towards the bathroom.

"He's probably worried now…" They heard them whisper (too loudly) and he rubbed his head with an annoyed sigh. Then he spotted the subject of the gossip right in front of him. Kotoko was standing there, chatting with Kimimura Kei, the other subject of the gossip. They seemed to be really friendly, but no way was he going to believe those rumors…

"Kotoko, what are the rumors about" He said with a tone in his voice that sounded like 'I don't care'". "Eh? Ohh Irie-kun, hi" She looked at Kei and then looked away. "H-how are you doing?" Naoki's eye twitched. Suspicious, she couldn't be seeing Kei, that would be unbelievable. "Eh I-" "- sorry but we were having a conversation, you two can talk at home right?" Kei gave him a friendly smile and grabbed Kotoko's shoulder gently, and pushed her along with him to another place. "Oh, eh okay!" Kotoko squeaked. Now Naoki did start to worry.

* * *

He and Kotoko were walking home together, and there was an awkward silence. Naoki still thought about the rumors and Kotoko's suspicious acting. She couldn't be having an affair, she would never do that. She was even worried he had one the day before! He clenched his fist. "Naoki what's wrong?" She called him by his first name again. Right.

"Nothing" He said, and the awkward silence continued. "What's with the gossip about you and that Kimimura guy?" He managed to ask after a few minutes of silence. Kotoko's expression changed, but he didn't know how to describe it. "Eh I-I don't know!" Kotoko blushed and looked at her feet. "Stop hiding things!" Naoki suddenly yelled and he grabbed her shoulders firmly, and pushed her against a random wall. Damn. He had lost it. First Kotoko looked with wide eyes at him. But then a smile appeared on her face, it was one of her normal expressions again. The mischievous smile. "Hehe you were worried?" She asked. "No! It's just annoying! And I want to know what's going on" Naoki felt his cheeks were getting warm. He sure hoped it wasn't a blush. Kotoko folded her arms and lifted her chin. "You really are crazy, falling for gossip like that" She used the same words he used before.

"What are you talking about, I didn't-"

"-Yes you did!" Kotoko giggled. "There's nothing going on between Kei and me, although he is a very nice guy… but this was all planned by me and my friends" Kotoko said with a big smile. "You idiots.." Naoki felt embarrassed, after all he still fell for it. "Come on Irie-kun, you totally fell for the gossip too!" Kotoko squealed, wrapping her arms around him.

"Did not"

"Yes you did!"

"Why would I"

"Because you love me"

Finally Naoki gave in. "Alright… I guess we're even, so stop about it or I'll cancel the trip" Kotoko pouted. "Fine!" She turned away from him, but was surprised when Naoki pulled her towards him and gave her a gentle kiss on her cheek. "But see it can be quite normal to fall for gossip" Kotoko said with a giggle. "What did I just say" "I know, don't cancel it. I just thought.." Naoki squeezed her side and she squealed. "Okay okay! You're just embarrassed!" She pointed at him and laughed. "I'll really cancel it" Naoki forced back a smile, but when Kotoko stuck her tongue out at him he couldn't help but smile. This was one of her cute moments. He shrugged and walked away, with Kotoko running after him.

"Wait for me!"

"Nope, slowpoke"

"Mohh Irie-kun!"

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**End of this Chapter**


	8. H: Halloween

**AN: Another chapter! Maybe it would be more suitable if it was about Christmas or something, but this time I chose for halloween :D It had been in my mind for a while to make a **

**chapter about it ^_^I hope you'll enjoy :3  
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****H – Halloween **

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It was Friday night, and the Irie family sat all together in the living room. It wasn't just a night, it was the night before Halloween. Mrs. Irie had already decorated the house with Halloween stuff like pumpkins and skeletons. Now they were preparing the outfits for trick or treating. Kotoko and Kotomi would go every year to pick up some candy for Kotomi, so this year too. "Here Mi-chan, it's done!" Mrs. Irie said, and she and Kotoko showed the cute witchy dress with matching hat. Kotomi stretched her arms happily and they helped her put it on. Then Kotomi ran off to look at herself in the mirror. Kotoko had the same outfit but then in her size, and she and Kotomi matched so well it looked cute.

"Here Irie-kun! This one's yours!" She handed Naoki a costume, and when he didn't take it she unfolded it and showed a vampire outfit. "Isn't it cool?" She asked with a huge smile on her face. "You know I never go trick or treating with you two" Naoki said with a grumpy face. "But! I thought if I prepared your costume, maybe you wouldn't mind coming along for just one time?" Naoki looked away, ignoring Kotoko's puppy eyes. "Whatever, I'm not going" He stood up and went upstairs. "Onii-chan!" Mrs. Irie called, but he ignored her.

After a few minutes Kotoko came into their room. Naoki was sitting on the bed and looked up at her, but immediately looked away again when he noticed the vampire costume was still in her hands. "Come on, Irie-kun?" She sat down next to him on the bed, and tried her puppy eyes again. "Do it for me? For Kotomi?" Naoki sighed. "Why don't you just go yourselves like the years before?"

"That's why! Because you didn't go with us, and we really want you to come along for just _one time_!" Kotoko begged, holding her index finger up, motioning 'one time'.

"We might even get more candy that way"

"I'm really not into this stuff" Naoki glared at her.

"Aww.." Kotoko looked down. Then her mood changed and she grasped one of the pillows.

"You're coming with us!" She hit him with the pillow till he was down on the bed and continued hitting him. "Just – only – this – time!" She said with clenched teeth, hitting him uncontrollably. "Koto- ARGH Kotoko you idiot!" Naoki yelled from under the pillow hits. "Come on Irie-kun please!" Geez, how annoying could a wife be. She tried to tickle him but as always he still wasn't ticklish at all. She sat down on him, straddling him and jumped up and down a few times. "Oof! Hey quit it!" Naoki barked. Kotoko stopped jumping up and down on top of him, but she was still straddling him and stared deep into his eyes now. "Please?" She leaned in and gave him a kiss.

"We really want you to wear the vampire costume, you'll look so sexy…" Naoki's eyes softened at Kotoko's cute look. And finally, he gave in. "Alright fine" He grunted. "Really? Yay!" Kotoko kissed him again. "Now get off me!" He gave her sides a quick tickle, causing her to fall off him, so now she was flat on her back on the bed . He hovered over her and kissed her. "You're _so_ annoying" He growled, causing Kotoko to giggle. Kotoko looked inviting, under him like that, so he leaned in and kissed her again, this time more passionate though. His hands automatically moved upwards, under her shirt, purposely exploring her sensitive areas making her squirm. "Mohh Irie-kun…" She moaned between their kisses and Naoki smirked. "Ahem… sorry for interrupting" Yuuki was standing beside the bed, and Kotoko and Naoki froze in shock. They hadn't heard him enter the room. Naoki quickly pulled his hands back and they both sat up. "They want you two to come downstairs, we're going to watch a horror movie Kotomi wants to see. You know, just a horror movie for children, so come" Yuuki said, trying to hide his blush. And he walked away again. "A h-h-horror movie?" Kotoko stuttered. "You heard him, it's just for kids so no big deal, come on" He helped Kotoko up and they went downstairs.

During the movie Kotoko cuddled up against Naoki. Mostly he didn't like that in front of other people, even their family, but since the movie scared her he let her do so. That would be typical Kotoko, scared of a horror movie for children. After the movie Mrs. Irie wanted to read Kotomi a nice story before going to sleep, so Kotomi said good night to her parents and went upstairs with Mrs. Irie. "That was so scary!" Kotoko said. "I can't believe this movie scared you. You really are something.." "Hmh of course it scared me, it was scary after all" Naoki grinned at her. "Kotomi didn't think it was scary at all" He added, receiving this angry look from Kotoko. "I bet she's got that from her father. Being scared is totally normal" Kotoko protested. "Not really, not for this movie" Naoki said, pointing at the screen that showed the credits. "Yeah Kotoko, you're totally stupid again!" Yuuki teased, and Kotoko stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, let us go to bed too, tomorrow we'll have to work, and after that…" Naoki sighed. "Trick or treat!" Kotoko squealed happily, raising a hand in the air. "No way! Onii-chan!" Yuuki said perplexed. "Yes.. I'll be happy when it's over" Naoki said to his brother, and then he and Kotoko went upstairs.

* * *

"What? Naoki's going to dress as a vampire?" Marina and Motoki yelled. They and Kotoko were walking through the hospital, looking for patients who needed help. As they passed the rooms, Kotoko explained them about Halloween. Kotoko nodded at them. "Yesh! Only I don't think he wants to do the teeth.. but he'll wear the cloak" Kotoko said, rubbing her hands with a mischievous smile. "Woah that's so cool!" Motoki and Marina squealed.

"Hey, keep it down, here's a patient trying to –" They all looked up at Naoki who looked at them from behind a curtain. "Oh, it's you three. I could have known" He said. "Naoki! You'll be a totally cool vampire right?" Marina squealed, ignoring his earlier words. "Please bite me!" Motoki said with folded hands. Naoki glared at Kotoko who immediately flinched. "Please continue your work" And his head disappeared behind the curtain again. Motoki and Marina giggled but Kotoko looked worried. "He didn't want others to know… now I'll be in big trouble" Kotoko mumbled as they continued walking. "You mean he doesn't want to do it anymore?" They yelled both at the same time. "No I think he will, since Kotomi knows he'll do it now" Kotoko sighed. "Then why so worried? Will he be angry at you?" Marina asked. "I don't know, depends on his mood I guess.. sometimes he just yells at me, other times he tickles me to death saying it's my punishment" Kotoko mumbled with a blush, and she added a troubled sigh. "I still don't know what I prefer…" She mumbled. Motoki and Marina raised their eyebrows.

"Really? I would love to be tickled by Naoki" Marina said with a thoughtful expression. "Marina! You have a boyfriend!" Motoki said. "I know! But still! It does have something playful so I guess it's better than yelling, right?" She said, and Kotoko looked at her. "I guess you're right. I'm not waiting for it though" She giggled. "But I can't imagine him doing such things" Motoki said. "Haha I know what you mean, I could have never imagined it either, and sometimes I wish he indeed wouldn't" Kotoko laughed. Marina and Motoki grinned at each other, and both attacked Kotoko at the same time, tickling her sides playfully. "Kyaa-hahaha stop tha-hat!" Kotoko squealed, squirming and jumping away from them. "Hahahaha you're so cute Kotoko! I understand why even your cold husband loves to tickle you!" Marina laughed. "He's not _that_ cold anymore.." Kotoko mumbled. "But when he is in a tickle mood, he's just like a monster you know, it's like a totally other side of him and sometimes it scares me" Kotoko said. "I guess he shows some other side of him too when you're having sex with him right?" Marina asked. "Marina!" Kotoko said with a blush.

"LADIES!" Within a second all three of them stood straight. Nowadays Motoki was called 'lady' too. "YES MA'AM?" They shrieked. "Stop chatting and continue working!" It was the head nurse. "YES!" And with that they all separated, continuing their jobs.

* * *

When Kotoko was at home, helping Kotomi get into her dress, the door opened and Naoki came in. He was done working later than her. "Hey!" Kotoko greeted. "Hey, I'll be upstairs" Naoki went upstairs, and Kotoko finished with Kotomi. "Sooo, you look lovely Mii-chan!" Kotoko laughed, and her daughter immediately ran off to show it to the others. Kotoko smiled and went upstairs too. Naoki was changing into his outfit, and she peeked into the room, trying to catch a glimpse of him in a vampire costume already. "Just come in" Naoki said. "Oh! You noticed me?" Kotoko asked as she entered the room. "Obviously".

Kotoko walked towards him and grabbed his shoulder, turning him towards her. "You look amazing!" She said. "You still told them, didn't you" Naoki said, ignoring her words. "Told what?" "That what I didn't want you to tell. What if they tell it to more people, it's stupid" Naoki said. "Oh thaaat…" Kotoko said with an innocent tone in her voice. He hovered over her and she flinched, waiting for the worst, either yelling or tickling. But he just gently patted her head. "I knew you wouldn't keep still" He said, and he left for the bathroom to do his hair. She let out a relieved sigh.

That night the three of them left with Kotomi holding a cute basket for the candy. To Naoki's horror, Mrs. Irie stalked them with a camera, and made a countless amount of pictures. And at the corner of the street they even ran into some people… "Kotoko! Naoki!" Satomi and Jinko were standing there chatting with each other, and their kids were trick or treating together. "I would have never expected to see Naoki in a costume!" Satomi said, and they laughed together, except for Naoki though. "Hey! Kotoko-chan!" Kotoko looked behind her, and saw Kinnosuke and Chris approaching, together with their two sons. "WHA!" Kinnosuke yelled, pointing at Naoki. Just like Naoki, Kinnosuke was wearing a vampire costume. "Kin-chan! Long time no see!" "We happened to be trick or treating too! Satomi texted Kinnosuke that she was here, so we thought we'd stop by, but we're lucky to see you two too!" Chris said happily. Kotoko hugged her friends while Naoki pointed at the other kids, so Kotomi quickly chased them. "We hadn't expected to see you here, we were also trick or treating with Mii-chan, but now I see she's having fun with the other kids" Kotoko laughed. "Naoki, you look good" Chris said. "Thanks, you too, the both of you" Naoki said.

"You're one sexy vampire, Naoki" Satomi said with a smirk. "Don't let your husband hear that Satomi!" Jinko said and they laughed. "He didn't want to come along with us!" Satomi said. "Mine neither, Kotoko, Chris, you two are lucky with husbands like that" Jinko said. "Hehe" Kotoko giggled. "Well, it's time we should go now, let's do a few more houses and then head home, it's getting late" Naoki said, gently pulling at Kotoko's arm. "Oh okay, bye everyone!" "Good night!" They all said.

* * *

"Woah look at all the candy!" Kotomi squealed. They just arrived at home, and Kotomi was showing her candy to Yuuki, Mr. Irie and Kotoko's father. "That sure is a lot!" They said. "Now Kotomi, it's time for you to go to bed" Kotoko lifted her, and Kotomi said the others good night. After Kotoko had brought her to bed, she and Naoki went upstairs too. "Hehe" Kotoko giggled when they entered their room. "What is it" Naoki said. "It's just, now everyone happened to see you in that outfit, I thought it was cool" She laughed and she sat down on the bed. "Oh you think so huh? It's embarrassing" Naoki said, but Kotoko laughed. "It's funny!" She laughed. Naoki sat down next to her and pushed her back down on the bed. Kotoko looked at him with questioning eyes, but closed them when he leaned in, expecting a kiss from him. But she screamed when she felt him tickle her ribs. "KYA!" She quickly covered her mouth with her hands, careful not to wake Kotomi. "D-don't do thaaaat!" She complained, her hands and giggles muffling the words. "What did you say?" Naoki teased, and Kotoko squeaked when he squeezed her sides. He stopped and looked her in her eyes. Kotoko smiled at him, she indeed liked this side of him. The side he only showed when they were alone.

She pulled him down and kissed him passionately, her hands making their way up, slowly removing his cloak. Naoki smirked and moved aside some fabric of her witchy dress. "I love you Irie-kun" Naoki smiled at her. "Yeah, I love you too".

And then the vampire and the witch made love :)

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**End of this chapter**


	9. I: Ignore

**AN: Hey everyone! I made three new chapters, and I'm warning you, some letters are just annoying, what leads to dumb chapters :) **

**They're actually sort of oneshots anyway so don't mind please, you can also just skip a chapter x3**

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****I – Ignore **

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"IRIE-KUN YOU IDIOT!" Naoki watched how Kotoko dashed out of the room and he sighed. They just had a huge fight with each other, and of course it ended up with Kotoko running away. He was sitting on the bed and scratched his head. He and Kotoko had fights regularly, and sometimes they seemed to go extreme, like this one. Let's see, what happened. Kotomi had gone missing and it was Kotoko's fault of course, she just had to look better after her. Naoki had pointed it out to her, but Kotoko was fully convinced that it wasn't her fault. Besides, Kotomi was back home again so she thought it was useless to keep going on about it, but he wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again.

He had called her a bad mother, irresponsible, an idiot, worthless, a blockhead and he couldn't even remember what more. He maybe went too far about it. But still, what if something had happened to Kotomi because of her stupidity? He couldn't think about it.

When he came downstairs, Kotoko was playing with Kotomi while the others watched TV. "Kotoko" He said. He wasn't planning on apologizing, but he just wanted to get it over with. But, she didn't answer. "Hey" He grabbed her shoulder but she just shrugged his hand off. "I see" Naoki felt annoyance well up inside of him, and he joined the others with watching TV. If she wasn't planning to talk to him, go ahead, he thought. "Mommy, are you angry?" Kotomi asked. "Only at daddy" Kotoko said and she smiled at her daughter. "Are you ignoring him?" Kotomi asked. "Hmm I was, but maybe it's a good idea to keep doing so. I've had it" Kotoko said. "Oh, then I'll ignore him too!" Kotomi squealed. Kotoko was glad that Naoki couldn't hear them. "No of course not silly, no need to" She said and she patted Kotomi's head. "Ohh.."

The fact that Kotoko had told Kotomi not to, didn't have any effect. Kotoko was ignoring Naoki, so Kotomi did so too. Kotoko had ignored him the rest of the night, and the next day she just went off to work without him. "Kotoko-chan! Shouldn't you just go talk to him?" A worried Mrs. Irie asked. Kotoko shook her head. "Not talking to him will make me cool down" She said, and she made a peace sign. "Then, I'm off!" She left, and a few minutes after that Naoki came downstairs. Mrs. Irie glared at her son. "What? It's not my fault she's ignoring me. Bye" He left too and Mrs. Irie sighed. "What a troublesome couple" She said, shaking her head.

* * *

"HAHAHA!" Naoki glared at Nishigaki-sensei. "It's not funny" He said. "So you're just being ignored by the women in the household! HAHAHA!" Naoki regretted immediately what he had said. He and Nishigaki-sensei had conversations pretty often, and he had mentioned about his fight with Kotoko. But instead of some good conversation about it, he was just laughed at. "But I understand you think you're not at fault, and I know how stubborn your wife can be. Just give it some time, she won't hold out like this" He said, and Naoki thought he might be right. Kotoko wouldn't be good at ignoring him forever, she'd probably come begging for forgiveness tonight. He smiled.

After some hours of work, Kotoko was sitting on a bench with Marina, Motoki and Tomoyo. "Finally you're joining us Tomoyo-chan! You seem so busy lately" Marina complained. "I know! I'm sorry" Tomoyo smiled. "Hey Kotoko-chan what's up?" They noticed she wasn't as cheerful as always. "I'm having a fight with Irie-kun" Kotoko said. "Really?" Kotoko nodded. "I'm ignoring him now" She said, and the others looked at each other. "And…. How long are you planning to ignore him?" Motoki asked. "I don't know" Kotoko sighed. "I won't ask the reason of the fight, since we know how Naoki-kun can be, so I assume it's his fault" Marina said. "But, I'm afraid you won't hold out for long. You know, ignoring him, and eventually you'll let him win!" She said. "I _can_ ignore him!" Kotoko protested. "But can you keep ignoring him until he gives in?" Motoki asked. Kotoko thought. "Hmm I don't know…" She mumbled. "Exactly. He and his charms won't be easy to ignore. You'll have to hold out until he apologizes to you" Motoki said with a bossy face. "Yeah Kotoko-chan. We'll help you" Tomoyo said, and Marina stood up.

"Lesson number one in ignoring your husband" She said as if it really existed. "Don't look at him! Pretend he's.. he's…" She thought for a moment. "Pretend he's cheese" Motoki helped. They all looked at him/her. "What? Cheese is not interesting and it smells" He said. "Good. Pretend he's cheese" Marina said, and Kotoko nodded with a serious look on her face. "Alright, lesson number two. Don't fall for his charms. Remember, he's cheese, and cheese is not charming" Kotoko nodded again. "Lesson number three" She said, sticking three fingers in the air. "Don't let him get to you, don't give in okay? I remember you told us he likes to tickle you, if he does, how hard it may be, don't react! Just shake him off and leave, okay?" Kotoko nodded again. "Alright, then wait for him to apologize" She said with her hands on her hips. "Thanks guys!" Kotoko's face brightened.

* * *

"I'm home!" Kotoko was home late, because she had gone out for dinner with her friends after work. "Welcome home Kotoko-chan!" Mrs. Irie and her father greeted. "How was dinner?" She asked. "It was great!" Kotoko said with a smile. "Mommy!" Kotomi came running towards her and Kotoko lifted her. "Hey, Kotomi! I'm home" She hugged her daughter and placed her back on the floor. "Kotoko-chan! Mi-chan has been ignoring onii-chan since last night!" Mrs. Irie whispered at Kotoko. "Oh my.. ah if it can't be helped" She said and she shrugged. She quickly gazed at Naoki who sat on the couch, sipping his coffee. "Kotomi has to go to bed, and then I'll go too, I'm pretty tired" Kotoko said and she lifted Kotomi. "Good night everyone!"

Bingo. She hadn't had eye contact with Naoki. She had successfully ignored him. She read Kotomi a story and then went to sleep herself. Surprisingly, she held out much longer than expected. She ignored him for two more days. Well actually, she just tried to be away from him as much as possible, so that she didn't have to ignore him. So she hung out with her friends and went upstairs early, and downstairs early.

* * *

Finally it was Saturday, and both Naoki and Kotoko didn't have to work that day. "Seriously, how much longer are you planning to ignore me?" Naoki asked. Kotoko was in the bathroom, fixing her hair, while Naoki stood at the door which was open. Kotoko could slightly see his reflection in the mirror, but she didn't pay attention to him. _"He's cheese… he's cheese…"_ A voice in her head kept repeating while she hummed a melody. "Hey, Kotoko, this is really childish you know, just quit it" Kotoko didn't react. She could notice from the way he breathed that he was getting annoyed. Hell yeah. She finished and wanted to leave the bathroom. But now Naoki didn't give her the chance. He stepped inside the bathroom and closed the door behind him, locking her. "D-" Kotoko wanted to say something, but she'd lose at ignoring him. So she turned her back towards him and fixed her hair some more.

"I'm not leaving if that's what you think. I'll keep standing here until you talk to me" He said. Finally Kotoko opened her mouth, it was a hopeless situation anyway. "Then you can keep standing there forever" She said. "Oh, I talked to you so you can just leave" She said as she turned towards him. For the first time in the past few days, she looked him in his eyes again.

"Kotoko, what are you planning to achieve with this nonsense" Naoki said, and Kotoko's eyes wandered away again. "I…" She turned away from him. "You were so wrong…" To her disgust, she felt her throat get dry. She felt this awful feeling of tears welling up. She couldn't cry! "Kotoko" He grabbed her shoulder. "I wanted you to _apologize_!" She screamed, suddenly looking up at him again, her eyes full with tears. "But _you_ lost our daughter! Don't you know how worried I was about her?" Naoki yelled. "But it wasn't my fault! I… I…" Kotoko started to cry, and Naoki first didn't know what to do. Then he calmed down. Watching her made him sad. This wasn't about the fact that Kotomi was gone. It was about the fight itself, right? What did he call her again? He called her an idiot many times. What more? He remembered calling her a blockhead. A worthless mother, maybe that's what hurt her? He looked at his sobbing wife.

He wasn't angry at her anymore, so why was she still so sad? It was just a little fight. Sometimes she could be so sensitive, and sometimes he didn't understand anything about her. Ah well, it didn't matter anymore, all he wanted was for her to smile again. Finally he took action, he gently grabbed her shoulder, pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry" He said, and he could feel her calm down in his arms. "Maybe I went too far. But you know how important our daughter is, right? I was just afraid that it would happen again" He said. Kotoko still couldn't make clear it wasn't her fault that it happened. But he apologized, and that's what she had been waiting for. "I'm sorry too" She sobbed.

"Geez, you sure know how to make a drama out of nothing" He said as he pushed her a little away from him so he could look at her face. "I know…" Kotoko sobbed, and he smiled and kissed her. "It's okay now" Kotoko finally smiled back at him. "Yeah" and they kissed again.

* * *

"So in the end you still lost. What a shame" Marina sighed.

"Hmm maybe he still managed to catch her, but in the end he did apologize, didn't he?" Tomoyo said. "That's right" Motoki said. "Ah well, be sure to win this perfectly the next time you two have a fight" Marina said. Kotoko laughed at her friends.

"Yeah I will!"

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**End of this Chapter**


	10. J: Jingle Bells

**AN: Another dumb chapter, **

**sorry but my inspiration will be back soon again, I think... I hope ^_^**

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****J – Jingle Bells **

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"Merry Christmas!" The family sat all together in the living room, celebrating Christmas Eve. Well, the whole family except for Naoki. "He's such a horrible man, how can he be absent on Christmas Eve?" Mrs. Irie complained, sipping her wine with a grumpy face. "Aw come on, we all know that the hospital always needs someone to work, and Irie-kun was nice enough to offer his help, because most of the doctors took a day off for Christmas Eve" Kotoko said. But deep down inside she found it horrible too, this wasn't even the first time he missed Christmas Eve. "Well then, we'll just open the presents, he can open his when he's back home" Mrs. Irie snorted and handed Kotomi a present. "Mi-chan! This is for you" While Kotomi opened her present, Kotoko quickly glanced at the present she had for Naoki. She had made him a scarf, this was the first time she did it. She had tried to before, but the scarves would look like anything but a scarf, so in the end she still had to buy something like a book, a tie or a sweater. But now she finally made a good one. She smiled. "KYA! Mommy look what grandma got me!" Kotomi squealed, showing the pushie. "Not only from me, this is from both me and grandpa to you!" Mrs. Irie said, and Kotomi hugged them.

A few minutes later everyone had their presents, and Kotomi was playing with her new toys. Kotoko was trying on the new dress Mrs. Irie had bought her. "You'll be irresistible in this!" Was what she said. Kotoko smiled at herself in the mirror. The dress was amazing. "Thank you!" She hugged Mrs. Irie and showed the others. "I must admit it looks good on you" Yuuki said. Kotoko giggled. "You know? I think I'm gonna visit Irie-kun! I'll give him his present there" Kotoko said. "Are you sure?" Mrs. Irie asked. "I don't know if that's a good idea Kotoko-chan, it's cold outside, it's snowing, and it's slippery too" Her father said with a worried look. "Don't worry! I'll be fine" Kotoko said. "I guess I'll go in this dress, he'll be amazed" Kotoko giggled. "Then be sure to put on a warm coat and scarf" They told her, and she nodded.

* * *

"Oof.. maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all" Kotoko mumbled. The snowstorm was heavier than she had expected, and it sure was a rough journey. "Maybe I should take the other route" She still hadn't gotten over that habit, talking to herself. But she decided to take the route which was longer than the one she and Naoki always took. The longer route went through alleys and the forest, and she thought to herself that she won't notice much of the snow there. What she didn't know was that she was completely wrong. She huffed and panted as she made her way through the snow, her feet sinking deep into the cold snow, and her hands freezing to death, even though she was wearing gloves. Despite her cold hands, she clutched the present tightly against her.

"I'm home" The family looked up in surprise when they heard Naoki's voice. "Huh?" Mrs. Irie ran to the hall to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. "Onii-chan? What are you doing here?" She asked. "I live here" He answered. "No I mean, weren't you supposed to be at work?" The others came to look too, and Naoki looked at them with a frown. "Ehm, well I was, but they let me go. I did most of the work this morning, so now a colleague of mine came to replace me so I could go home" He explained as he took off his coat and wiped off the snow. "But.. isn't Kotoko-chan with you?" Mrs. Irie asked with a worried look. "Kotoko?" Naoki asked.

"Yeah, she said she'd go visit you! So she left" Kotoko's father said. "Are you serious? And all of you just let her go? Don't you know how serious this snowstorm is? I thought I'd never reach home!" Naoki barked, immediately putting his coat back on. "Ohh, if Onii-chan had trouble with the snow, I don't want to know how Kotoko will manage" Yuuki said. "But I don't understand why you didn't meet her! I'd think you two would run into each other" Mr. Irie said. "Never mind that, I'm leaving" And the door closed again. The family sighed.

* * *

"Irie-kun…" Kotoko moaned. She was lying flat on her stomach in the snow, and she couldn't feel anything because of the cold. She felt paralyzed. She slowly sat up straight and tried to think what happened. "I must have passed out" She slowly stood up, her legs shaking. "Damn snowstorm" She kept mumbling to herself.

"IDIOT!" Kotoko's eyes shot open and she felt how she was pulled up. She looked and saw Naoki, still holding her arm. "Irie-kun!" A huge smile appeared on her face and she hugged him. "What the hell are you doing! Are you insane?" Naoki yelled, pushing her a little back from him so he could look at her face. She didn't look very healthy. No wonder. "I wanted to give this to you…" Kotoko said, a little dazed from the cold. She bent down to pick up the present and handed it to him. "Please… open it" She mumbled. "Geez.. don't you know what could have happened if I hadn't found you?" Naoki said, still with a loud voice. "Just open it…" Kotoko mumbled. Naoki sighed, it couldn't be helped then. He opened the present and held up the handmade scarf. "You made this?" He asked, and Kotoko nodded in response. "Thanks, it's wonderful.." He said, and he finally smiled at her. Kotoko smiled back at him, before she fainted. "Kotoko!" He caught her just in time and lifted her. "You're unbelievable" He said as he walked back home with her in his arms. But he had a smile on his face when he said it.

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The whole family immediately rushed to the hall when they heard the door. "Onii-chan! Is Kotoko-chan alright?" Naoki who had the unconscious Kotoko still in his arms smiled at them. "She'll be fine" He said, and he took her upstairs. He placed her on the bed and went back down to take off his coat and shoes. "Sorry for letting you all worry, this is partly my fault I guess. Sorry for being absent on Christmas Eve too" He said to the others. His voice didn't sound like he really cared a lot, but he at least apologized, and the others smiled. "That's okay!" Naoki went back upstairs again and sat down on the bed. Kotoko had still her eyes closed, and her face started to get its normal color back. Naoki slowly took her hand in his and kissed it. Her hand was still very cold. He started rubbing it with both hands, trying to warm her up. Then he bent down and softly kissed her. When he pulled back he was surprised to see her eyes were open. "Hi" She said, and he backed away in surprise and shock. "You're awake" Kotoko giggled and sat up straight.

"I'm sorry I worried you" She said, looking a little sad. "That's okay, don't worry about it. How are you feeling?" Naoki asked. "Great. Now you're with me" She smiled at him and Naoki's eyes softened. Since he didn't know anything to say at the moment, he just leaned in and kissed her again. Kotoko's eyes closed and she leaned back, Naoki slowly moving along with her and ending up on top of her. He had her wrapped in his arms in a tight embrace, warming her cold body up. "I love you" Kotoko whispered. "I love you too" Naoki whispered back, and they kissed some more.

_Jingle bells, jingle bells  
Jingle all the way  
Oh, what fun it is to ride  
In a one horse open sleigh_

They both froze and slowly turned their heads. At their bed was their daughter standing with a mini radio in her hands, that was playing the song 'Jingle Bells'. After a few seconds of staring Naoki awkwardly got off his wife and looked at his daughter. "I love this song" Kotomi said innocently. "I see.." Kotoko and Naoki glanced at each other and chuckled. "Well that's great Kotomi" Naoki said as he lifted her, the awkward moment fading away. "Daddy sing it for me?" Kotomi asked, and Naoki's eye twitched. "Ehm well…" "Yeah Irie-kun! Sing it for us" Kotoko joined in. "Why you little" Naoki sent Kotoko a playful glare, and Kotoko giggled. "Fine then…" He slowly started singing,

_Dashing through the snow  
In a one horse open sleigh  
O'er the fields we go  
Laughing all the way_

He paused and looked at his daughter to see if she heard enough, but her innocent eyes were asking for more. "Continue, continue Onii-chan!" Naoki jolted and turned to see a horrible view. The whole family was peeking/listening, and Mrs. Irie had even the video camera aimed at him.

Kotoko burst out in laughing while pointing at him, obviously laughing at him. Naoki glared at her and then slowly approached the others. "What's the matter, go on, Onii-chan!" They all backed away as he moved closer until he was just at the door opening. He put Kotomi down and gave her a little push so she was out of the room. "Would you please excuse us" He said with a twitching eye. And the door closed, locking the others outside.

"Ah well, we did record that part" They all left again. Kotoko was still laughing hard, rolling around on the bed. Naoki gave her a look that made her stop laughing and she swallowed.

"It was funny, right?" She asked, her voice innocent.

"So, embarrassing me is funny huh? I'll give you something to laugh about" And he approached her, making her scream.

Yes, no one would get away with laughing at Irie Naoki _that_ easily.

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**End of this Chapter**


	11. K: Kitty

**K – Kitty**

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It was a cold and snowy day, and Kotoko was free from work. Naoki wasn't, but the others were at home too so she and Kotomi spent the day playing games with them. "Now I've had it, I'm quitting" Yuuki said after the third game, and he went upstairs. "Aww, then I guess we'll stop too" Kotoko said. "Mommy, look!" Kotoko looked at her daughter who was pointing at the window. "I don't see anything" She said. "There!" Kotoko looked more down and down, and then she saw it. A little kitten was sitting in front of their window, looking at them with the most adorable eyes she had ever seen. "Oh god! It must be freezing to death!" Without thinking Kotoko ran towards the back door, threw it open and lifted the kitten.

"Look Oba-chan! Isn't it cute?" She said happily as she carried the kitten inside. "Aww the poor little thing! It's indeed adorable! Look Kotomi!" Kotomi came closer and Kotoko bent down so that her daughter could stroke the kitten. "It must be a stray or something" Kotoko's father said. "Aww can it stay?" Kotoko asked, and the others hesitated. Except for Kotomi who jumped cheerfully, squealing "Yes yes yes!" while clapping in her hands. "Well we're okay with it, right?" Mrs. Irie said, looking at the others. Yuuki first shrugged but when everyone kept staring at him, waiting for approval, he finally nodded.

"But…" Said Mrs. Irie, and Kotoko looked up from the kitten to listen to the 'but'. "But what?" She asked. "Onii-chan hates cats" Mrs. Irie said. "Ohhh! How can he hate such adorable animals! That's no reason not to keep it, and besides we can't let it freeze to death outside can we?" Kotoko said. "Nope, you're staying here" She said, holding the kitten in front of her. "So what shall we call you?" Kotoko sat down on the couch with the kitten that was purring now. "Miki!" Kotoko looked at Kotomi. "Miki? That's fine" She agreed, and Mrs. Irie clapped in her hands. "Then we'll take care of the stuff needed for the cat, we never had a cat before!" Mrs. Irie said enthusiastically.

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"I'm home" When Naoki didn't receive any answer he shrugged and went upstairs. He entered his room and saw Kotoko sitting on the bed. "Irie-kun! Welcome back! How was work?" She asked. "Fine" He answered and he sat down on the bed, pulling off his socks which were a little wet from the snow. He should get better shoes, he thought. "Hey Irie-kun-" "Where are the others?" Naoki asked, interrupting her. "Oh they're out for a bit, but I wanted to wait for you. And-" "I see, then we'll have dinner together" He said, interrupting her again. "We have-" "By the way Marina was at work too, she told me she tried to call you but you didn't answer, yesterday" Naoki said. "Oh I see, I'll call her back. But-" Just when Kotoko opened her mouth for the fourth time, trying to tell him about the kitten, she closed her mouth again. "Irie-kun, look!" She pointed down and Naoki looked down. The kitten was playing with his sock, ruining it.

"DARGH!" Within a second Naoki was at the door, his back against it. "What the hell is _that_ doing here?" He barked. "It lives here now. This is Miki" Kotoko said, lifting the cat and holding it up for him. The cat meowed cutely. "I _hate_ cats!" Naoki barked. "Why are we having a cat, and what's it doing in our room?" He barked, pointing at the cute little thing. "Well it was a stray, we couldn't let it all alone, and look at it, so cute!" Kotoko squealed. "I was showing her our room" Kotoko said. "I see…" Naoki glared at the animal. "Plus, how can you ever hate cute animals like…. These…" Kotoko paused because she noticed the cat was jumping up at Naoki, scratching at his legs playfully. "Get it off me!" He barked. Kotoko laughed. "You sound like you're scared of it, Irie-kun!" She laughed. "I'm not. Like I said, I hate them" Naoki shrugged the cat off his foot and sat down on the bed again. "Why don't we just take it to a shelter" He said. "No! Never! Besides, Kotomi loves her too" Kotoko protested. Naoki sighed.

"Fine then, as long as it stays away from… me…" He looked down with a twitching eye. The cat was rubbing his leg with its head and meowed at him. "Aww she seems to like you!" Kotoko giggled. "But I don't like her. Go away" He gently kicked at the kitten, but it didn't give up. It meowed and tried to get his attention. "How troublesome" He sighed. "Aw come on Irie-kun, you'll sure get to like her" And with that Kotoko suddenly pushed him down on the bed and captured his lips with hers. After a few seconds of surprise, he passionately answered the kiss, moving his hands up to caress her hair. Kotoko's hands moved from his cheeks to his neck, stroking him softly. "So, where did that come from" Naoki said when they paused the kiss. He moved his hands under her shirt and caressed her back. "Just felt like it, you looked so adorable, being afraid of the kitten and stuff" Kotoko said. "I'm _not_!" Naoki protested, but Kotoko just crashed her lips down on his again, French kissing him passionately, while her hands had moved under his shirt, rubbing his torso.

Until they heard a cute 'meow' and Kotoko stopped to look aside. The kitten was on the bed, watching them. "Aw! It jumped on the bed! How cute!" Leaving Naoki behind, she suddenly had only attention for the kitten. Naoki, who was slightly disappointed and annoyed that the kitten had interrupted them, grumbled.

After some time, Kotoko seemed to remember he was there too. Because she turned towards him with the kitten in her hands and handed it to him. "Here, hold her" She said. "No way" Naoki said. "Fine then, you go play little Miki" Kotoko said with a caring voice, placing Miki on the floor again and throwing a ball. Then her attention was back at Naoki again. "Coward" She said playfully and she stuck her tongue out at him. "You little-" Naoki pinned her down and started tickling her sides mercilessly. "Kyaaahahahaha-wh-hahaa-w-why-ahha why always ti-hi-hickling!" Kotoko managed to say between laughs and giggles. "Because it's fun" He said, his wiggling fingers moving towards her armpits, making her squeal when he tickled her there. "Dohooon't!" Kotoko complained between laughs, trying to push him off. "You know this is what happens when you tease me, so I think you just like it" Naoki teased, tormenting her helpless tummy.

"Argh!" He suddenly cried out. "What?" Kotoko sat up straight, immediately back to normal. "That stupid _cat_ scratched me!" He pointed at the kitten who was on the bed again. "Aww Miki is on my side! You good girl! Are you a good cute little kitty? You helped me right? Yay!" Kotoko rattled on. "I hate cats" Naoki complained. "Here let me see that" Kotoko took his hand in her hand and looked at the scratch. It was bleeding. "Aww poor Irie-kun" She said, but Naoki could hear a slight tone of tease or sarcasm in her voice. She brought his hand to her mouth and started to suck on the wound. "H-hey… I can do that myself" Kotoko shook her head at his statement. "I'll do it" She continued sucking on it, until most of the blood was gone. "So, and… a plaster aid" She had reached behind her and then put the plaster aid on his wound.

"So you always carry plaster aids with you? What a good nurse" Naoki said. Kotoko giggled at his remark. "So, done!" Kotoko said after she had planted a tiny kiss on it. Naoki smiled at her, then immediately glared at the cat. Then they heard the door.

"We're home!" They got off the bed, and Kotoko carried Miki with her. "Welcome home!" She greeted as she and Naoki walked down the stairs. "Ahh Onii-chan has met Miki! She's cute right?" Mrs. Irie said. Naoki glared at her. "Oh.." Mrs. Irie fell silent. "Yuuki! How did you approve of this!" Naoki said, pointing at the innocent kitten again. Yuuki shrugged. "Kotomi likes her very much" He said and Naoki sighed. "Hmm you're back early! We'll have dinner all together then?" Kotoko asked. "Yes! I'll prepare it now" Mrs. Irie said and she went to the kitchen. Naoki and Kotoko sat down on the couch while Kotomi played with Miki. "Irie-kun! You must like our little Miki! Just stroke her?" Naoki looked the other way. "No way" He said. "Aw come on! Just once!" Kotoko begged. "Why would I?" Naoki protested. "She wants you to!" Kotoko pointed at Miki who was looking at Naoki again. Naoki sighed. "Alright, since you insist…" He slowly lowered and stretched his arm to reach the kitten. Then he gently stroked it.

Miki immediately started to purr and jumped on his lap. "H-hey!" Naoki protested. "Aww isn't she cute?" Kotoko asked, and she stroked Miki. Kotomi sat down in front of them and stroked Miki too. "Kotomi! You wanted to play this game right?" Kotomi went to Yuuki, and Kotoko got up too. "That's right, I had to call Marina. I'll be right back" And she left too, leaving Naoki alone with the cat. "So, are you really as cute as they say you are?" Naoki asked the cat, and the cat glared at him. "Thought so… you hate me too right" The cat meowed in response. "I knew it" And before the cat could scratch him he placed it back on the floor, where it started attacking his legs. "I'm back!" Kotoko watched how Naoki's legs kept evading the cat. "You two are playing? How cute!" She squealed, and the kitten acted immediately cute again.

"This is gonna be very troublesome" Naoki mumbled as he and the kitten glared at each other, what Kotoko didn't notice. "Hmm? Did you say something?" She asked. Naoki shook his head. "Okay" And they got up because Mrs. Irie called them for dinner. Before he turned away he stuck his tongue out at the cat who gave him an evil look.

If Kotoko only knew what was playing between those two.

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**End of This Chapter**


	12. L: Lemon

**AN: HALT! This chapter is M-rated, so if you're not ready for that please skip this chapter ^_^ **

**Naoki and Kotoko finally make up for the long period they didn't have any sex xD **

**I already warned somewhere in the first chapter that a Mature rated chapter could be coming, and that's this one :) **

**That's why the title is "Lemon", it's full of lemons *_* xD **

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****L – Lemon **

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It was another cold and snowy day, and Kotoko was home alone with Miki. The others were out visiting family together with Kotomi and they would stay the night there, but Kotoko wanted to stay home to accompany Miki and to wait for her husband. She almost never went with them to see the family, she did feel bad about it though. She had days off for the winter break, but her husband was a hard worker and an important doctor, so he still had to work quite a lot. "Hmmmhh…" Kotoko sighed as she threw the ball for a thousandth time. "This is getting boring, isn't it" She said, and Miki meowed. Kotoko was downstairs, sitting on the floor while playing with the young cat. It was already getting late and she was totally bored. But then finally she heard the door.

"Irie-kun!" She welcomed him happily. "Oh you didn't go with them?" He asked. "No! Wouldn't it be lonely if you would come home and nobody was there?" Kotoko asked. "I guess" Naoki took off his coat and shoes and entered the living room, where the cat immediately attacked his legs. "Get off" He shrugged the cat off and went to get something to drink. "So, we're home alone?" He asked Kotoko who followed him to the kitchen. "Yep" Kotoko answered. "All night long" He said. "All night long" She repeated, not understanding what his point was. "I see" After the last few sips from his drink, he set down the glass and suddenly approached her and lifted her. "Kya!" Kotoko screeched as she was flipped over his shoulder. "Irie-kun w-what are you doing!" She kicked her legs and struggled, but he easily took her with him and carried her upstairs, leaving Miki behind.

"Irie-kun! What are you-" Kotoko was silenced when he gently threw her on the bed, climbed on top of her and kissed her. The truth was, they hadn't made love in ages! And Naoki, being a young man with desires after all, saw this as an opportunity to do so. "Kotoko, I need you" He whispered, moving some hair from her face.

"E-eh?" Kotoko blushed, it wasn't like Naoki to say something like this. Before she could say anything he continued kissing her, pushing her down on the bed while Kotoko's arms moved up to wrap around his neck. Kotoko couldn't believe it, of course she had been longing for him the time they didn't do anything. But she couldn't believe that Naoki actually felt the same way. His hands travelled down her body, feeling and touching her. Kotoko always loved how just only his hands could drive her crazy already, no matter which part of her body he touched. She moaned softly in the kiss when his cold hands moved under her shirt, drawing delicate circles on her skin with his fingertips. They broke apart and she giggled. "You have cold hands" She whispered, before moving hers under his shirt, slowly taking it off him. He took off her shirt as well and she squealed in surprise when he suddenly stuck his hands under her armpits. "It's warm here" He chuckled while Kotoko breathed nervously, afraid he would tickle her there. To make sure he wouldn't think of that she distracted him by kissing him passionately again, and Naoki's hands slowly moved away from her armpits, reaching down and rubbing her thighs.

Kotoko moaned in the kiss, and she made the first move for a roll, so now she was on top. She grinned as he looked up at her and she kissed him some more, her hands massaging his chest. His hands grasped her sides, making her gasp, and he flipped her under him again. While he started kissing her neck, his hands wandered up and moved behind her. He unclasped her bra and took it off. Kotoko shuddered at the cold air that hit her breasts.

Naoki continued kissing her neck while his hands moved to her breasts and started rubbing them. Kotoko let out soft gasps when his thumbs gently stroked her nipples, and she wrapped her arms even more tightly around his neck. Naoki smirked, how he had missed touching her body like this. Kotoko tried to stay calm, but Naoki was both sucking her neck and fondling her breasts, she was attacked by a stream of pleasure. "Irie-kun!" Kotoko gasped when he lowered and started teasing her nipple with his mouth, while his hands slowly unbuttoned her jeans and moved them down. After totally sinking in the wonderful feeling she came back to senses and stripped him as well. While still sucking on her nipple Kotoko could feel him slowly pull down her panties, making her cross her legs nervously. He parted her legs again and gently rubbed her womanhood. "Still nervous?" He asked teasingly while still rubbing her, and Kotoko shook her head with a blush. "Liar" He whispered in her ear, and he tugged off his boxers and thrust himself inside her.

"Ahh!" Kotoko moaned. She hadn't expected him to begin already. They both moaned and gasped as he moved in and out of her. After crying out each other's name they both climaxed at the same time, and Naoki's body fell down on top of her. They were still panting and lay a few minutes in silence. Until they heard "meow!". They both froze and tilted their heads. Miki was sitting on the floor, watching them. "H-how long has she been there…" Naoki said with a twitching eye. "She learned how to walk the stairs!" Kotoko said happily, but then the thought about what Naoki said. "Have you been watching us?" Miki flinched, meowing innocently. "You perverted cat!" Kotoko scolded. Miki meowed once more and left the room. They were sitting up straight now, and after another moment of silence they both laughed. Naoki wrapped his arms around her once more, pulling her back so now her bare back was against his chest.

"Kotoko" He whispered, nuzzling her neck. Kotoko smiled. She just loved when Naoki was in a mood like this. All lovey-dovey. His hand moved up and softly caressed her neck with his fingertips, giving her goose bumps. "Irie-kun" She mumbled back with a dreamy voice, closing her eyes. Then her eyes shot open when she felt him tickle her tummy. "I-Irie-kun you bastard!" She squealed, moving away from him. "Don't spoil the mood with your stupid tickle games!" She complained, but Naoki simply grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "Always such a big mouth" He mumbled, tickling her stomach. "H-hehehe I h-hate you-hahahaa!" She giggled. "Here, still that big mouth of yours" Naoki chuckled, he just loved how she laughed when he tickled her. Kotoko desperately tried to fight him off, but he was always stronger than her. Sometimes she wouldn't mind his annoying tickle moods, could even prefer them above his serious moods, but now right after sex and being completely nude made her even more sensitive and vulnerable.

Her hands moved on their own towards his thighs and she started scribbling her fingers there, trying once again to find a ticklish spot. She was surprised when she felt him squirm and she really thought she heard a gasp. Bingo, did she hit the right spot this time? She grinned wickedly and continued tickling him back. Naoki chuckled but managed to keep up his tickling, but she felt him getting weaker. Kotoko couldn't believe it, she was seriously having a tickle fight with Naoki. If she would tell anyone that, they'd surely laugh at her.

"So you _are_ ticklish?" Kotoko teased when he had finally given in and had her wrist in a tight grasp. "Obviously. But only _that_ spot which you'll only reach when I don't wear clothes" Naoki said and he stuck his tongue out. Kotoko laughed and finally started feeling uncomfortable because they were still both completely nude. She grasped the blankets and covered herself up, but Naoki grabbed her wrist and stopped her. Kotoko flinched, waiting for the next tickle attack, but he just pushed her down and kissed her again. Passionately. Kotoko moaned in the kiss and ran her hands through his hair. Even when they just had climaxed, the both of them, she felt herself getting all heated up again.

And she was not the only one. Naoki's hands found her breasts once again and… believe it or not, they were in for a second round.

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When Naoki and Kotoko woke up, it was already very late in the morning. "Hmmh.." Kotoko rubbed her eyes and stepped out of bed. She had forgotten she was still naked, so she quickly ran to the bathroom with some clothes. They seriously had been up most of the night, having hours long sex. Naoki felt pretty embarrassed when he thought back of it. They had never had sex _that_ long at once.

After they had dressed they went downstairs to have breakfast. Once they were in the hall they immediately saw Miki, cutely looking up at them. "Miki!" Kotoko said. "You perverted cat!" She added, pointing at Miki. "Perverted cat?" Kotoko and Naoki both jumped in shock and looked at Yuuki who just came from the living room. "Y-you're back already? We didn't hear you at all" Kotoko said. "Yeah, Mom and dad are doing the groceries with Mi-chan. But seriously, why perverted cat?" Yuuki asked, folding his arms. "Y-you don't wanna know" Kotoko said with a forced smile. Naoki chuckled. "Nope, for once I agree with her" Kotoko pouted at him, and they entered the living room.

"I guess _we_'re the perverts here" Kotoko softly mumbled at Naoki.

"Shut up."

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**End of This Chapter**


	13. M: Moving Out

**AN: Here's another short chapter, I have a lot of tests at school right now so I couldn't write much more for this chapter,**

**but I really wanted to upload some so that's why I still uploaded it, but only a little short one ^^ Sorry if it's obvious that I rushed it! x_x  
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****M – Moving out**

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It was a peaceful Sunday morning. The family sat downstairs, Kotomi playing with Miki, Naoki reading the newspaper and the others watching TV. "Hey Kotoko, come here" Kotoko looked up, first pouted at his blunt request, but then finally got up and went towards him. "What is it" She asked, bending down from behind him. "Look here, I've been thinking, I think it's time for us to move out" Naoki said softly, pointing at a nice looking house for sale. "W-WHA-" Naoki just in time covered her mouth with his hand. "Idiot, I'm purposely talking softly because I don't want my mother to know yet, so keep it down" He hissed, and Kotoko nodded.

"Yeah I think you're right, we can't live here forever…" Kotoko mumbled, fidgeting with her fingers. "Are you disappointed?" Naoki asked. "No I'm not! It's just that I'm kind of used to living here you know" Kotoko answered. "Me too, but I guess we'll have to move on don't we" He smiled at her and Kotoko nodded. "That might be true" She said. "So, what about taking a day off tomorrow and look for a new house?" Naoki asked. "That's okay with me, I didn't have to work that long after all" Kotoko agreed.

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"Are you two leaving for work? Have a nice day!" Mrs. Irie asked the next morning. It was very early in the morning and Mrs. Irie had woken up by the noises they made. So she was standing at the stairs, wondering why they were up so early. "Yes! We'll be back before dinner, work might be pretty busy today, so we have to start early" Kotoko said and they waved goodbye.

That was a lie, they went to visit some houses they saw in the newspaper. They took the bus and went to the first house that was not very far away from their current house. "Hey, we're here to take a look at the house" Naoki said when a woman opened the door. "Oh I see, come in!" Kotoko could see that the woman liked Naoki's looks, and she glared at her. Naoki and Kotoko entered the house, and Naoki, noticing Kotoko's attitude towards the woman, gave Kotoko a rough poke in her side. Kotoko jumped and glared at him, but he just shook his head, motioning that she had to act normally. They entered the living room which was only a little bit smaller than the living room in their current house. "Hmm I like this!" Kotoko said, looking around.

They spent the whole day looking at houses and apartments, and at the end of the day the decision was already made. They liked the first house the best. "So, how was work?" Mrs. Irie asked cheerfully. They were all having dinner together, and Naoki and Kotoko had decided to tell them about it. "Uhh busy!" Kotoko said nervously.

"Mother" Naoki said, and his mother looked up at him. "What is it?". He knew it was his job to tell them, because Kotoko obviously couldn't. And they had to tell them now, Kotoko wouldn't be able to hold out much longer, telling them lies and stuff. "We're moving out" It was a blunt statement, and it caused a moment of silence. "What are you talking about? Of course you're no-" "Mother we're serious. It's just that… we think it's time for us to go live on our own" Naoki said. "Oh I see" They noticed she was trying to hold back her tears.

"Please understand" Naoki added. "O-of course I understand!" Mrs. Irie started to cry. "I knew t-this day was coming! I only hadn't exp-p-pected it to be so soon! I'll miss y-you guys so much!" She sobbed and wiped her tears."Oba-chan we'll miss you too! But we'll come visit as much as possible, right Irie-kun?" Kotoko asked and Naoki smiled. "Yeah we will" Mrs. Irie looked at them, still with watery eyes and then nodded. "Okay!" She said, this time smiling. "Moving out?" Kotomi asked. While Naoki explained it to his daughter, Kotoko's attention went to her father. "But what about me then? You're leaving me behind?" Kotoko's father asked with puppy eyes. "I'm sorry dad, but you know I'm old enough to go live on my own" Kotoko said. "Yes, we'll take care of your dad, Kotoko!" Mr. Irie said, roughly patting Kotoko's father on his back, causing him to choke on his food. "H-hey!" He complained, and they laughed. Kotoko smiled, her father would be fine.

"I can't believe you're leaving me alone with the oldies" Yuuki said, offended faces turning towards him. "What? It's true. You two are moving out and will probably take Kotomi and Miki with you" Yuuki said and he shrugged. "Don't you think I'll be lonely?" He asked Naoki with slight blush. Naoki smiled at his brother. "I think you'll be fine" And Yuuki couldn't help but nod. "So have you guys found a house already?" Mr. Irie asked. "Yes!" Kotoko quickly stood up to get the newspaper, and showed it to them. "Woah looks good! And it's close to us too!" Mrs. Irie said. "Yeah, it's a really nice house" Kotoko said with a smile and Naoki nodded. "We'll help you out" Mrs. Irie said. "Yes thank you!" Kotoko was relieved, in the end it all went well.

"So! Soon we won't be sleeping here anymore" Kotoko said with a sigh. She sat on the bed, and lay back. "Nope" Naoki sat down next to her and bent down to give her a kiss. "Disappointed?" He asked. Kotoko thought for a moment and shook her head. "No, it's just that, we have so many memories here" Kotoko said. "This house, and room, and stuff.." She blushed. "We'll make new memories in our new house" Naoki said, and Kotoko smiled at him. "Yes!" She sat up straight and hugged him.

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The following week they were very busy with the migration. Everything went pretty fast, and after five days the biggest part of it was arranged. Most of the furniture was already inside. "Woah looks great Kotoko-chan, Onii-chan!" Mrs. Irie said after they had finished furnishing the bedrooms. "There's still some that need to be done though" Naoki said. "Yeah but the most important is finished! You'd better take a good rest, since the day after tomorrow will be new year's eve, remember? We'd like to go to the shrine all together" Mrs. Irie said. "I see, well I guess we're fine now then" Kotoko said. They went downstairs where the others were sitting. "Come Mi-chan I'll show you your room!" While Kotoko and Kotomi went upstairs, Naoki sat down next to his father on the couch and looked around. Their new living room was very cozy, not too big and not too small. He liked it.

"We're going home now, we'll see you later!" Kotomi and Kotoko came running down to tell them goodbye. "Take care! And we'll see you at the turn of the year" They said, and they closed the door behind them. Now it was just the three of them. "Kotoko brought Kotomi back to her room, she seemed to really like it. "So, Miki, do you like it?" He asked the cat. He and the cat were alone downstairs, so the only one he had to talk to was the cat. Miki meowed but glared at him. "I see, you still don't like me. Well I don't like you either" Miki hissed and Naoki stuck his tongue out at the cat like he did very often. "Hahaha Irie-kun you're such a kid!" Only normally he would do it out of sight, but this time he seemed to be caught. He looked at Kotoko who came walking down the stairs. "Sticking your tongue out at our innocent Miki, and you're calling _me_ childish?" Kotoko laughed. "So, what do you want for dinner?" Naoki asked, changing the subject. "Hmm actually I wanted to cook you something" Kotoko said, but Naoki shook his head. "I'll do it" Kotoko giggled and sat down on his lap.

"Now we'll be alone most of the time, was that your intention?" Kotoko asked teasingly. True, now they were mostly alone, they could make love or act lovey-dovey whenever they wanted (if Kotomi wasn't around). Naoki tried to deny it, but maybe it was a factor after all. "You never act lovey-dovey with me when our parents are around" Kotoko said, and Naoki nodded. "True" He said. "ARGH" Kotoko jumped in shock and got from his lap. "What's wrong?" She asked. "That stupid _cat_ scratched my foot!" Naoki pointed down and there was indeed a hole in his sock now. "Pffft.." Naoki glared at Kotoko who had trouble holding back her laughter. "What was that?" He asked. "N-n-nothing…" Kotoko managed to say, her hand covering her mouth. "You sure?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. "Y-y-yes!" Then she couldn't hold it anymore and burst out in laughing. "This is not funny!" Naoki barked but Kotoko kept on laughing. Kotoko laughed even more when he squeezed her sides.

"Anyway, now I still don't know what you want for dinner" Naoki said after Kotoko had calmed down. "I don't mind" Kotoko said, still giggling a little. "Well you decide what to cook, I'm going to Kotomi" And before Naoki could say anything she left and went upstairs. Naoki got up from the couch and looked outside into their new garden. Almost new year already, they'd enter the new year with a fresh change already.

He smiled, wondering what more was waiting for them in the future.

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**End of this Chapter**


	14. N: New Year

**AN: I wonder if some people were already thinking I dropped this story. Well it only looks like it! I really want to continue and it's taken me AGES to write this chapter. It went bit by bit and soooo slowly :P Blame my inspiration. ANyway, I'm really sorry it took me so long to update :)  
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**Even though it's only some slice of life, I still hope you'll enjoy it ^^ It's fun writing it !**

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**N – New Year**

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It was the last morning of the year, and Naoki awoke by a weird, unpleasant feeling. First he thought Kotoko was trying to find a ticklish spot on his body again, but this touch different. He waved with his hand at the thing that caused the touch, when he felt something furry. His eyes shot open and he sat up straight. "Stupid cat! What are you doing in my bed?" He barked. He looked around and noticed Kotoko was out of bed already. He looked at the alarm clock and saw it was already pretty late in the morning. Normally he would already be awake by all the noise the whole family made, but this time it seemed that Kotoko and Kotomi had kept it down. And also not living with the whole family made a difference. Naoki yawned and stepped out of his bed, glaring at the cat.

Then the door opened. "Ah Irie-kun you're awake! I just wanted to call you for breakfast" She said. "Yeah, this cat sneaked into our room and joined me in bed" Naoki said with an annoyed tone in his voice, pointing at the cat. "Oh woops! Guess that's my fault, I must have locked her in the room accidentally" Kotoko giggled. "Now come!" She and Naoki went downstairs where Kotomi was waiting for them. "Itadakimasu!" Naoki was surprised that Kotoko's breakfast tasted good this time. "It's good" He said. "Really? Yay!" Kotoko cheered. "I miss uncle Yuuki" Kotomi complained. "We'll see him today!" Kotoko said, and Kotomi's face brightened. "Yay!" Kotomi cheered. After breakfast they all cleaned the table. "Oh!" Kotoko suddenly blurted out. "I totally forgot, I'll need to go look for a new kimono for Kotomi!" she said, and Naoki shook his head hopelessly. "We knew for a long time that her kimono was too small, and you're going to look for one _now_?" He asked annoyed. "The festival's tonight!" He said. They would go to a festival with the family to watch fireworks together, and go to the shrine. "Yeah, I'm sorry, but it's okay! We'll get it now" And she went to get her coat. She put on Kotomi's coat and got ready to leave. Just when Naoki wanted to grab his coat Kotoko stopped him. "Ehm it might be better if you stay here" Kotoko said with a smile. "Why?" Naoki asked. "Well.. you know, the guys in the street are already using fireworks, and I need someone to stay with Miki. See, she's scared" Kotoko pointed at the poor cat that was hiding under the couch. "I see… But I'm not going to stay behind for a stupid cat!" He complained. "Please Irie-kun?" Naoki sighed. "Alright then, take care" And the door closed behind them.

Naoki glared at the cat. "What's with you, it's not scary so come on out" He said, but the cat was still under the couch. "Then you can just stay there" He said and he sat down on the couch. After a few minutes Miki finally came out. "Woah!" Naoki jumped in shock when he heard the noise of some sudden loud firework, and Miki immediately was back under the couch. Naoki went outside to take a look at the early fireworks. "Those boys sure can't sit still" He said to himself. Then in the corner of his eye he saw something run away. "Huh? Hey!" It was Miki who escaped, and she ran desperately away. "What the! Stupid cat, running towards the noise isn't going to help!" Naoki barked. The cat disappeared out of sight. "Oh dear…" Naoki went back inside to get his coat and the keys. He had to find that stupid cat. He couldn't help it, but he felt an annoying feeling in his heart. Similar to when Kotoko always got herself in trouble. He was worried about Miki! What the hell! While running around, he was still confused. Well of course he was worried, if Kotoko and Kotomi found out, they would be heartbroken… "MIKI!" He shouted. Of course she won't respond to that, she's a cat, he thought. "Dammit" He cursed, after he had run through the neighborhood. He went back inside and sat down on the couch, still stressed. "Damn that cat, she must be scared to death" Naoki mumbled to himself as he watched the fireworks. He growled and stood up again, getting back outside to look again. When he again walked through the neighborhood he suddenly heard something that drew his attention. "Hahaha see that! That cat is so scared hahah!" After that some loud firework noises were heard and Naoki ran towards them. "MIKI!" The kids were firing fireworks and firecrackers at her. The poor cat was hiding under a car now. "Hey stop that!" Naoki barked. The kids growled and after some mumbled curses they left. Naoki bent down and reached for the cat. "Come here, Miki" He said. Miki sat still shivering under the car but finally came to him. He lifted her and carried her home. "You stupid cat, running away like that" He mumbled, but he was surprised when Miki licked his hand. He smiled. "Maybe you are kind of cute after all" He said.

* * *

"We're home!" When Kotoko and Kotomi entered the living room, the first thing they noticed was Naoki on the couch, with a sleeping Miki on his lap. "Ohhh looks like you're getting along!" Kotoko giggled, and Naoki blushed. "She was just scared of the fireworks" He protested. "Okay I'm going to prepare dinner, I invited our parents and Yuuki over" Kotoko said, and she left for the kitchen. Naoki shoved Miki from his lap and followed her.

Kotoko was surprised when she felt him embrace her from behind. "What's with you?" Kotoko giggled, still surprised when he did things like that. "Nothing" Naoki nuzzled her neck and Kotoko turned around. They leaned in to kiss, but were interrupted by Kotomi's "eewww", followed by a loud meow from Miki. They looked at the duo and laughed. "Hahaha, guess they won't let us!" Kotoko laughed, and she continued her work in the kitchen. Naoki glared at his daughter and cat, who gave him innocent glances. Then he chased after Kotomi, who squealed and laughed playfully. While making dinner, Kotoko couldn't help the huge grin on her face. It felt like they were such a nice and happy family now!

* * *

When the Irie family arrived, they all had dinner together. "Woah Kotoko-chan! Your cooking is getting better and better!" Mrs. Irie said when everyone was finished eating, and Kotoko's father nodded in approval. "What she says! I'm proud that you're my daughter after all!" He laughed. "_After all_?" Kotoko asked with a loud voice, and she glared at him, bending over the table as she placed her hand on it. Naoki smirked at the sight. To be honest, Kotoko had a few drinks during dinner, and it was quite… visible. "You know, I was afraid you would never learn!" Kotoko's father teased. Kotoko pouted, her face was a little bit flushed and she looked really funny. "Well, that was that! Kotoko-chan, we'll clean the table, why don't you go change! Everyone is wearing a kimono already but you" Mrs. Irie said. That was true, she hadn't put it on yet because she had to prepare dinner. Naoki and Kotomi had already changed before dinner, just like the others. "Yes! I'll be going!" Kotoko got up from her chair and went upstairs. With some staggers here and there.

After helping out a bit, Naoki told the others he'd help his wife out, so he went after her. "Kotoko?" He opened the door to see her struggling with her Kimono. "Irie-kunnnn" Kotoko complained. "Please help me" Naoki laughed and helped her put it on. "You look beautiful" He said and he smiled. "Really? Thanks Irie-kun" Kotoko said with a smile, as she and her husband left the room.

* * *

"Daddy, daddy look!" Kotomi was running excitedly around the festival, admiring everything and pointing at things. Kotoko was slowly getting more sober again, clinging onto her husband's arm and watching their daughter having fun. Yuuki was walking with Kotomi, a few feet ahead of them because the family seemed to walk too slow for Kotomi. "Well then, let's add ourselves to the line, it's almost midnight!" Mrs. Irie said after walking around the festival for a while. And they added themselves to the line for the shrine. After standing in the line for a while, people started to count down. "Oh it's so far already! Kotomi, count with us!" Yuuki said, and they all started to count. "3 – 2 – 1- 0! Happy new year!" Fireworks exploded in the air, while there was a mass of people hugging and kissing each other. Naoki had Kotoko in a tight embrace. "Happy new year, Irie-kun!" Kotoko said. "Happy new year" Naoki responded as he held her even tighter. Then they went to wish the family and of course their lovely daughter, a happy new year.

"It's our turn!" The whole family stood in a line, clapped and made their first prayer for the new year. "Let this year be another amazing year! With mommy, and daddy, and uncle Yuuki and grandma and grandpa, and with Miki" Kotomi said aloud, and the others smiled. "Good" Naoki said, and he patted her head and leaded her away, since it was the turn for the next people.

"Well bro, I wonder what this year has in store for you, things never get old with Kotoko-chan right?" Yuuki said as he walked beside his brother. Kotoko was running ahead with Kotomi to get some food. "You're right" Naoki replied, watching his wife and daughter. "Things never get old" He repeated, and he smiled at his brother who smiled back. Yuuki was right, another whole year with Kotoko, what would it bring him this time?

* * *

**End of this chapter**


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